Bouchard v Kvitova in final

Bouchard beat this year's French Open runner-up Halep 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the Wimbledon women's final. The 20-year-old Canadian has yet to drop a set in six matches so far and is the youngest player ranked in the top 20.

"I've put in a lot of hard work and it's been kind of years in the making to me," said Bouchard, who won on her sixth match point. "So I believe in myself and I expect good results. I've had a good start to the season, but I expect myself to do even better than that."

Thursday's semifinal was delayed twice in the opening set. First Halep stopped proceedings due to a left ankle injury, then a woman spectator took ill during the tiebreaker.

The third-seeded Halep of Romania never appeared to recover from her injury after catching it in the dry, grassless Centre Court.

"It was difficult to continue because I twisted my ankle and it was very hard. I felt a big pain in the moment, but then was better with tape," said Halep, who earlier in the tournament suffered a left thigh injury. "But still I couldn't push anymore on my leg. My first serve was really bad after that. Yeah, it was difficult to continue with another injury.

Kvitova returns to final

In Thursday's earlier semifinal, Petra Kvitova defeated fellow Czech Lucie Safarova 7-6 (8-6), 6-1. It's Kvitova's second final at the All England Club after winning the tournament in 2011.

Kvitova, 24, is now 6-0 all-time against Safarova. She advanced in just under 90 minutes on Thursday with eight aces, breaking three times and striking 24 winners.

"I'm back in the final and I'm feeling well," she said. "I'm ready for a final, I'm going to try the best."

Kvitova emerged victorious from her only previous meeting with Bouchard -- in Toronto during the second round of the 2013 Rogers Cup.

"When we first played, she was just coming up. I find her a very solid and talented player," said Kvitova.

"She really seems that she is confident in her game right now. She's moving very well. She's playing aggressively from the nearby baseline."

"I'm going to have to play aggressively like I have been, I must go for winners, hold my serve and wait for some chances," she added.

The men's semifinals will be held Friday, with top-seeded Novak Djokovic taking on Grigor Dimitrov, and seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer facing off against Canada's Milos Raonic.

dr/ipj (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)