Halep’s rise began after she lost in the first round at Roland Garros 12 months ago, the Romanian climbing from 57 in the world rankings to four, winning seven titles along the way.

She has not dropped a set all tournament and that never looked like changing against 2009 champion Kuznetsova, Halep simply too solid in all areas of the game.

The 22-year-old only reached her first grand slam quarter-final at the Australian Open in January but rather froze against eventual finalist Dominika Cibulkova.

Petkovic lost in qualifying last year as she battled her way back from a succession of injuries and thought about quitting the sport.

The 26-year-old was a three-time slam quarter-finalist in 2011 and bettered that with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Errani, who lost in the final to Maria Sharapova two years ago.

Play began almost three hours late because of rain, and it was not long before the bad weather returned, but this time they played on.

The rain seemed to unsettle Errani, who had started the better by winning the first two games but then lost six in a row as Petkovic stormed to the first set.

The German, ranked 27, was particularly enjoying pummelling Errani’s soft serves, her backhand doing most of the damage.

Petkovic had enjoyed the luck of the draw of her way to the last eight but she was showing she most certainly belonged, opening up a 4-2 lead on Errani.

The Italian had not held serve since her opening game of the match and Petkovic continued to play with a freedom that belied the situation.

When Errani served at 2-5 to try to stay in the match, Petkovic simply stuck to her guns and blasted her way into the last four after an hour and three minutes.