Garbine Muguruza to face Simona Halep in Cincinnati final after beating world No 1 Pliskova
ByPA Sport
Updated 20/08/2017 at 11:46 GMT
Garbine Muguruza beat world number one Karolina Pliskova to secure a place in Sunday's final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where she will face number two seed Simona Halep.
Garbine Muguruza of Spain returns a shot to Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic during Day 8 of the Western and Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center on August 19, 2017 in Mason, Ohio
Image credit: Getty Images
The Spaniard came through 6-3 6-2, having set the tone after breaking the Czech in the very first game.
Muguruza kept the pressure on Pliskova's serve, securing a key break to lead 4-2 in the second set before closing out victory in one hour and 21 minutes after taking a fifth match-point chance against the top seed.
Romanian Halep, meanwhile, could take over from Pliskova at the top of the WTA rankings if she is able to win the tournament.
Halep had to battle past British number one Johanna Konta 6-4 7-6 (7/1) in their quarter-final which lasted almost two hours.
However, Halep coasted through the second semi-final with a 6-2 6-1 win over American Sloane Stephens in just 56 minutes.
The world number two forced two early breaks to lead 5-1 in both sets as she produced a confident display to end the American wild card's run.
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