The pair had met seven times previously, with Svitolina ahead 4-3, although Halep won the last clash in Doha earlier this year.
Halep served first, and a forehand winner gave her game point. That disappeared when a backhand sailed wide. From there three break points were saved through great shot making, and ultimately serve was held.
Svitolina also suffered a long game when serving, and she saved two break points before watching a trio of game points fly by. The third break point arrived following a Halep forehand winner. A missed backhand from Svitolina confirmed a service break and Halep led 2-0 after about 20 minutes.
The third game took about a minute as Svitolina broke back immediately for 1-2, mainly due to Halep unforced errors.
No joy for Svitolina in the next stretch, as Halep won 12 of 15 points, breaking serve twice, and extending her lead to 5-1.
Serving for the set wasn’t as simple.
Set point was offered on four occasions, but was not converted. Then a break point surfaced and had to be extinguished. A fifth chance to end the set came and went, but finally Halep won the set 6-1, a strong serve setting up a forehand winner to seal it. The last five games took less time than the first two.
No break points through six games of set two and games were 3-3. In the seventh game Svitolina contributed two backhand errors, and a Halep forehand down the line made it 15-40. A wide Svitolina forehand on the first break point gave Halep the 4-3 lead.
Serving at 3-5, Svitolina could do little as Halep raced to two match points. The first was used and Simona Halep won a spot in the Ladies Singles Final on Saturday, 6-1 6-3 the final score.
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