Eugenie Bouchard Advances to First Ever GrandSlam Final #Wimbledon

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada waves to the crowd after defeating Simona Halep of Romania in their women’s singles semifinal match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Thursday, July 3, 2014. (AP / Ben Curtis)

Eugenie Bouchard defeated Romania's Simona Halep 7-6 (5), 6-2 in semifinal play at Wimbledon on Thursday to become the first Canadian women's singles player to advance to a Grand Slam final.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., converted her sixth match point to complete the victory in one hour 34 minutes.

The 13th-seeded Canadian will next face sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova on Saturday. Kvitova beat fellow Czech left-hander Lucie Safarova 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the early semifinal.

It's my first Grand Slam final so I'm just going to go for it," Bouchard told ESPN. "I'll have probably my toughest match yet so I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Another Canadian is in the final four of the men's draw. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., will take on Switzerland's Roger Federer in semifinal play Friday.

In a semifinal that was delayed twice in the first set -- first by a left ankle injury to the third-seeded Halep and then by an ill woman on Centre Court during the tiebreaker -- Halep double-faulted on break point in the second set and then was broken again by Bouchard to give the Canadian a 4-1 lead.

It was third time lucky for Bouchard -- she had lost both previous semifinals in Grand Slam tournaments this year. She has not dropped a set in six matches so far at Wimbledon.

Kvitova is the only player born in the 1990s to have won a major title, taking the crown at the All England Club in 2011. She improved her record to 25-5 on the Wimbledon grass and she's made at least the quarter-finals five years in a row.

"I know how (it feels) when you hold the trophy so I really want to win my second title here and I will do everything I can," Kvitova said.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., is the only woman to have advanced to all three Grand Slam semifinals this year. She won the 2012 junior title at Wimbledon.

It was the first Grand Slam semifinal between two Czech women. It marked No. 6-seeded Kvitova's 15th consecutive win against a left-hander and she beat 23rd-seeded Safarova -- who was playing on Centre Court for the first time -- for the sixth match in a row.

"I don't have words to describe my feeling right now," Kvitova said. "It was a tough match mentally, as well, because Lucie is a good friend of mine. We know each (other) very well off the court and on the court, as well."