Simona Halep has reached her third French Open final and held on to the world No.1 spot with victory over Garbine Muguruza.

The Romanian is yet to win a grand slam title but looks ominously ready to break her duck at Roland Garros.

Muguruza had hammered Maria Sharapova in the quarter-final but Halep was a different proposition entirely — and it seemed she knew it. A nervous start from Muguruza was immediately pounced upon by Halep for a break in the opening game.

Half an hour later 1-0 had become 6-1 and the challenge of Muguruza, who would have taken over at the top of the rankings with victory, appeared to be fading fast.

She improved in the second set, breaking early on only to be pegged back at 4-4 before Halep held a marathon ninth game and broke for a 6-1 6-4 win.