Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard beats Simona Halep 7-6, 6-2 and goes to Wimbledon final

LONDON — Eugenie Bouchard defeated Romania’s Simona Halep 7-6 (5), 6-2 in semifinal play at Wimbledon on Thursday to become the first Canadian women’s singles player to advance to a Grand Slam final.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., converted her sixth match point to complete the victory in one hour 34 minutes.

The 13th-seeded Canadian will next face sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova on Saturday. Kvitova beat fellow Czech left-hander Lucie Safarova 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the early semifinal.

“It’s my first Grand Slam final so I’m just going to go for it,” Bouchard told ESPN. “I’ll have probably my toughest match yet so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Another Canadian is in the final four of the men’s draw. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., will take on Switzerland’s Roger Federer in semifinal play Friday.

In a semifinal that was delayed twice in the first set — first by a left ankle injury to the third-seeded Halep and then by an ill woman on Centre Court during the tiebreaker — Halep double-faulted on break point in the second set and then was broken again by Bouchard to give the Canadian a 4-1 lead.

It was third time lucky for Bouchard — she had lost both previous semifinals in Grand Slam tournaments this year. She has not dropped a set in six matches so far at Wimbledon.