Halep faces Muguruza challenge for French Open final spot

World number one Simona Halep will aim to book her place in the finals of the ongoing French Open when she crosses swords with Spanish-Venezuelan player Garbine Muguruza in their last-four clash here on Thursday.

Yesterday, the Romanian tennis star bounced back strongly from a set down to eventually prevail 12th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2 in a thrilling quarter-final clash of the women's singles event that lasted two hours and 14 minutes.

With the win, Halep booked her place in the third Roland Garros semi-finals.

Muguruza, on the other hand, came off a straight sets win over Russia's Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 to storm into the last-four.

While top-seed Halep is chasing her maiden Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros, Muguruza is bidding to make her fourth Grand Slam final and second career French Open final.

The two players have met each other four times previously, with Muguruza winning three of those meetings--including 2017 Cincinnati Masters finals.

However, Halep is a two-time runner-up at Roland Garros - slumping to a defeat to Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova in the 2014 final before losing to Jelena Ostapenko last year.

In another semi-final clash, America's Sloane Stephens will lock horns with compatriot Madison Keys for a place in the summit showdown.