Tennis-Halep downs Martic, faces Swiatek in Indian Wells semi-finals

FILE PHOTO: Mar 15, 2022; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Simona Halep (ROU) hits a shot in her third round match against Sorana Cirstea (ROU) at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

(Reuters) -Simona Halep took less than an hour to breeze past Petra Martic 6-1 6-1 on Wednesday and reach the semi-finals of the WTA Indian Wells tournament for the fourth time, while Iga Swiatek also advanced in style dismantling Madison Keys.

Halep went up a break at 2-1 in the opening set after her opponent double-faulted, and the Romanian reeled off the next six games behind confident groundstrokes and precise serving.