Saturday 21 February 2015 11:06, UK
Czech star Karolina Pliskova played through a sand storm to reach the biggest final of her career against top seed Simona Halep at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The steep-serving 22-year-old from Prague, who last month became the youngest player in the current top 20, battled past Garbine Muguruza with a nerve-shredding 6-4 5-7 7-5 victory.
The elegantly gifted 21-year-old Muguruza, from Barcelona, possessed the more supple and flexible game, giving her more options in a tricky wind, but it was Pliskova who snatched a memorable win just as her chances seemed to be fading.
Pliskova fired down 13 aces to extend her year's total to 145, the most on the WTA Tour.
But there were phases near the end when it seemed that might not be enough.
She had to save two break points at 3-4 in the final set, holding serve with the help of a video review which showed she had landed another ace, and then slipped to love-40 when she was trying to close the match out at 6-5.
Pliskova gambled on hitting flat and hard in a fraught final game, something which paid off as she clawed back four points in a row, and six out of seven, to close the match out.
"I felt tired so I wasn't expecting it," said Pliskova, who could rise to a career high world No 12 irrespective of the result of Saturday's final against Halep after the Romanian fought back from a set down to defeat Caroline Wozniacki, the former world No 1 from Denmark 2-6 6-1 6-1.
"We both have great serves so it doesn't matter if you go love 30 or love 40 down."
Tournament favourite and world No 4 Halep will be looking for her second title of the year, having won in Shenzen the first week of the season, while she also made the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Halep's finesse, power and speed over the court allowed her to level the match as Wozniacki, suffering from illness and a troublesome knee, wilted under pressure.
The Romanian ended up claiming 12 of the last 14 games as she secured a place in the final.
"When I started the match I started with a bad tactic," Halep said. "I just wanted to hit every ball, and I did many mistakes.
"So in the second set I said that I have to change it, hit with length and open up the court.
"Day by day, I've played better - I tried to be aggressive, I'm playing good tennis, I'm feeling relaxed."