Wimbledon 2019: Simona Halep blasts past Elina Svitolina to reach first-ever Wimbledon final

Romanian tennis star Simona Halep turned in a ruthlessly efficient performance to end the challenge of Elina Svitolina and march on to the final of the women's singles at Wimbledon.

Halep barely missed a beat as she secured a straight-sets win over Svitolina, 6-1, 6-3 on Centre Court to become the first Romanian woman to make it to a Wimbledon singles final.

Halep's path to the semis was eased somewhat by some unexpected early exits from seeded players on her portion of the draw. It meant that number-eight seed Svitolina was the first seeded player she faced in the tournament.

But despite the increased level of competition on the other side of the net, Halep turned in a performance that saw her dominate her opposite number en route to a comfortable victory.

© AFP / Will Oliver

The opening two games produced some thrilling back-and-forth tennis as 20 minutes flew by. But once Halep established her dominance by breaking Svitolina's serve in each and every one of the Ukrainian's service games, the former world number one took over.

And when Halep's relentless play and ability to keep rallies alive forced her all the way to two match points on Svitolina's serve, her opponent was only able to save one of them as Halep forced a backhand into the net to secure victory after just 73 minutes.

It means Halep is the first player through to this weekend's final, where she will face the winner of Thursday's second semi-final between seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams and unranked Czech Barbora Strycova.