French Open: Simona Halep beats Karolina Pliskova to cruise to final

Paris: Simona Halep set up a French Open final against Jelena Ostapenko on Thursday, taking her to within touching distance of a first Grand Slam title and the world number one spot.

Romanian third seed Halep, the runner-up to Maria Sharapova in 2014, claimed a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Karolina Pliskova, the second-seeded Czech.

Unseeded Ostapenko downed Timea Bacsinszky 7-6 (7/4), 3-6, 6-3 on her 20th birthday to become the first Latvian finalist at a major.

The eventual champion on Saturday will be a first-time major winner while victory for Halep would crown her as the new world number one, replacing Angelique Kerber.

"It's an amazing feeling right now," said 25-year-old Halep after her fifth win in six meetings against



Pliskova, the world number three.

"It was extremely tough today as Karolina is a very tough opponent. "To be in the final again is great. I hope to win this time."But I am facing a young opponent, it will be a big challenge."

Pliskova ended the tie with 45 winners and a staggering 55 unforced errors.In contrast, Halep registered 14 in both columns.

For Halep, the win came just a day after she saved a match point and came from a set and 1-5 to beat Elina Svitolina in the last eight.

Pliskova, the 25-year-old Czech, would have taken the world top spot if she had made her second Slam final.

In the end, she could at least reflect on progress in Paris -- before this year, she had never got beyond the second round in five attempts.