Halep into Rome semis as Putintseva retires
Top seed Simona Halep progressed to her fifth Internazionali BNL d’Italia semifinal after Yulia Putintseva retired due to a lower back injury trailing by a set in their quarterfinal.
Halep was able to preserve her perfect record in Rome quarterfinals after Putintseva retired due to a lower back injury trailing 6-2, 2-0 after 47 minutes.
Halep improved to 8-0 since the tennis restart and 12-0 overall stretching back to February.
Halep, who lost two straight finals in Rome to Elina Svitolina in 2017 and 2018, will need to beat two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza or U.S. Open runner-up Victoria Azarenka to return to the final.