Halep triumphs over Kerber at Roland Garros

Top seed Simona Halep came from behind to defeat Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-7(2) 6-3 6-2 on Wednesday and reach the semi-finals of the French Open.

Halep, who was beaten in the final at Roland Garros last year, is now two wins away from her maiden Grand Slam title and takes on Spain's Garbine Muguruza next.

"I have no pressure. I (have) played well this tournament, every match was better and better. I had tough opponents, tomorrow I face another one," Halep said after her quarter-final clash with Kerber.

Muguruza thrashed former champion Maria Sharapova to reach her fourth Grand Slam semi-final. The Spaniard was flawless in her 6-2 6-1 win and will be the firm favourite to lift the title for the second time in Paris.

"I knew it was going to be an intense match, because I hadn't played her for a long time. I knew she was a difficult player," said Muguruza, who was beaten by Sharapova in the quarter finals in 2014.

There was only one lapse, a dropped service game early in the second set, but Muguruza barely flinched before reeling off the next five games for the loss of six points.

"I wasn't thinking so much about the result, but I just was thinking about not dropping my level, not giving her a single point, and I guess that helped my performance," she said.

Rain stops men's semifinals

Defending champion Rafael Nadal faced an anxious night after rain intervened with him trailing Argentina's Diego Schwartzman in his French Open quarter-final on Wednesday.

Eleventh seed Schwartzman snapped Nadal's run of winning 37 consecutive completed sets at Roland Garros when he took the opener 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Spaniard Nadal, bidding for an 11th title on the Parisian clay, also trailed by a break in the second set as Schwartzman threatened a huge shock, but after a rain stoppage, Nadal returned to court to move 5-3 ahead in the second set.

Another rain delay sent the players off court and shortly afterwards play was suspended for the day.

They will return at 1000 GMT on Thursday.

Nadal had looked imperious on his way to a 12th quarter-final at Roland Garros, but the diminutive Schwartzman played with aggressive intent to rock the claycourt king.

Breaks were swapped twice in the first set before 25-year-old Schwartzman broke the Nadal serve for a third time to lead 5-4. Schwartzman saw two set points come and go but at the third time of asking – after a delay while a spectator was helped out after feeling ill – the Argentine ripped a forehand winner.

When Schwartzman broke in the third game of the second set, the alarm bells were ringing in the Nadal camp and although he quickly levelled he was immediately broken again.

Schwartzman had a point to lead 4-2 but a forehand error allowed Nadal off the hook.

That proved costly as Nadal broke and then repeated the trick to move into a 5-3, 30-15 lead.

There will be much to ponder though for Nadal and coach Carlos Moya as Schwartzman still looked capable of registering a first win against Nadal at the sixth attempt.

The winner will face either Juan Martin del Potro or Marin Cilic, who were locked at 5-5 in a first-set tiebreak when rain also suspended their match.