Friday 23 February 2018 00:19, UK
Garbine Muguruza booked her place in the Dubai Championships semi-finals with a straight-sets victory over Caroline Garcia.
The two-time Grand Slam champion secured her second victory over the French No 1 in back-to-back tournaments with a 7-5 6-2 success after Muguruza secured a comeback win over Garcia on the way to reaching the final in Doha last week.
Muguruza, who defeated American CiCi Bellis in a match which finished in the early hours of Thursday morning, returned to action later that day against the world No 7 and will meet Daria Kasatkina, who beat Elina Vesnina, in the last four.
The Spanish world No 3 claimed a tight first set, which lasted over an hour before she took control of proceedings in the second set.
Muguruza, chasing her first title since Cincinnati last August, won 13 points in a row on her way to bringing up a 4-1 as she closed in on victory in a match which was twice interrupted by rain.
"It was a very good match, especially the first set. I felt that whoever could win it, would win the match," Muguruza said.
"I felt much better this match than the match we played in Doha. When you play a top-10 player, and you beat second time in a row, it gives you a good sign that what I'm doing is right."
Elina Svitolina will meet Angelique Kerber in the other semi-final meeting after the Ukrainian top seed defeated Japan's Naomi Osaka while the in-form German two-time Grand Slam champion proved too strong for Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova.
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