French Open: Halep beats Petkovic to reach first grand slam final

Paris: Simona Halep reached her first grand slam final when she beat Germany`s Andrea Petkovic 6-2 7-6(4) in the semi-finals of the French Open on Thursday.

The Romanian fourth seed, who will face 2012 champion and last year`s runner-up Maria Sharapova on Saturday, blazed through the opening set as her 28th-seeded opponent struggled with early nerves. She fell a break down in the second but recovered to force a tiebreak which she always controlled. Halep, who has yet to drop a set, ended the contest on her first match point with yet another forehand winner.