Dominant Simona Halep beats Zarina Diyas to reach Wimbledon last eight

Halep needed just 57 minutes to eliminate her opponent from Kazakhstan 6-3 6-0 as the world number three continued her fine 2014.

Aiming to become the first Romanian to win a major since Virginia Ruzici's triumph at the 1978 French Open, Halep made a confident start to proceedings, breaking Diyas in just her second service game.

Having beaten Kristina Mladenovic, Carla Suarez Navarro and Vera Zvonareva on her way to the fourth round, Diyas would have been forgiven for feeling confident of turning things around.

However, an encounter with Halep - a beaten finalist at the French Open last month - proved to be too much of a step up in class for the 20-year-old, who was competing at this stage of a grand slam for the first time in her fledgling career.

And the difference in quality was evidenced again as Halep broke for a second time to claim the first set, the inexperienced Diyas failing to handle the pressure on her serve, winning just 42 per cent of points on her first serve in the opening set.

Indeed, Halep dominated in every area of the second set, converting three of her five break points while Diyas committed 16 unforced errors to allow the 22-year-old a comfortable passage into the quarter-finals.

Halep will now face last year's finalist Sabine Lisicki in the next round.