Tennis: Simona Halep beats Ashleigh Barty to reach Rogers Cup final

World number one Simona Halep dispatched number 15 seed Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday, to reach the Rogers Cup final for the second time. Top-seeded Halep started strongly, breaking world number 16 Barty in the first game and winning four of the first five. But the 22-year-old Australian fought hard and got her lone break in the sixth game and held serve for the rest of the set to stay in the match. Twenty-six-year-old Halep continued her fine form into the second set, winning the first four games, saving four break points in all from 0-40 down in a lengthy fourth game to keep a double-break advantage. In the end, it was a convincing performance from Halep in her first encounter with Barty, who racked up 37 unforced errors over the 70 minutes.