Simona Halep demolishes Badosa to set up Wimbledon clash with Anisimova

In a tournament of upsets, a return to normality. For Simona Halep, back on Centre Court for the first time since she won the title so brilliantly in 2019, her 6-1, 6-2 demolition of the No 4 seed, Paula Badosa, was a timely reminder of just how good she is. It puts her into the quarter-finals for the fifth time and makes her the one to beat again.

Halep hit 17 winners and only nine unforced errors in a near-perfect display, one that only lasted an hour and that sets up an intriguing encounter against the American Amanda Anisimova, who followed up her win over Coco Gauff by taking out Harmony Tan, the Frenchwoman who bamboozled Serena Williams in the first round. If the path to a third grand slam title is not exactly clear, she will go into her match with Anisimova as the tournament favourite.

Badosa had lost serve only three times in her first three matches. Halep broke her five times, a relentless, brilliant performance. “I’m really pleased with the way I have played this tournament so far,” she said. “Day by day, I’m just looking forward to the next one and giving my best.”

Her best is very, very good, as Badosa found out. The Spaniard has rocketed up the rankings in the past year, winning the title in Indian Wells last October. Bold from the baseline, she had edged out two-times champion Petra Kvitova in a high-quality match in the previous round. But from the moment Halep threaded a backhand across her at the net to break for a 2-1 lead, she was a distant second best.

Halep has come a long way in the past six months. At the beginning of the year, she was considering hanging up her racket, disillusioned with the sport and wondering if it was really worth all the work to get back to the top. A calf injury that made