Simona Halep to take on Kiki Bertens in Cincinnati final

Simona Halep held off Aryna Sabalenka to reach the final of the Cincinnati Masters.

The world No 1 and top seed secured a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Belarusian to move her second WTA Tour Premier 5 final in the space of a few days.

.@Simona_Halep digs deep to down Sabalenka, 6-3, 6-4!

Into third @CincyTennis final! pic.twitter.com/XkM4fmGdzY

— WTA (@WTA) August 18, 2018

Fresh from winning the Rogers Cup, the Romanian broke three times in the first set and twice in the second to set up the victory, although Sabalenka did manage to claim a break of her own in each set.

Kiki Bertens awaits her in Sunday’s final after the Dutchwoman reached her second Premier 5 final with a come-from-behind win over Petra Kvitova.

The unseeded Bertens secured a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over the two-time Grand Slam winner.

.@kikibertens books her place in the @CincyTennis final!

Defeats Petra Kvitova 6-3, 4-6, 6-2!

It is Bertens’ third final berth of the season, her 12th career win over a top 10 player and her second win against Kvitova in the last 9 days! pic.twitter.com/QKS3AgZuf0

— WTA (@WTA) August 18, 2018

“I’m feeling great. I’m really happy I won this match. It was a really tough one, but I’m so happy to be in the finals here,” Bertens said.

“It feels great. We’ve put a lot of work in to get more fit, and play more aggressive on the hard courts, and it’s working out.”