Top seed Aryna Sabalenka fought back to end Coco Gauff's nine-match winning streak and secure a third straight appearance in the final of the Wuhan Open, where she will meet home favourite Zheng Qinwen.
American Gauff had taken the opening set and then moved 4-2 ahead in the second to seem on course for victory, only for her serve to falter as world number two Sabalenka recovered to win 1-6 6-4 6-4 in two and a half hours.
Sabalenka maintained her unbeaten record in Wuhan as Gauff, who won the China Open in Beijing last week, produced another double fault on match point – a 21st in total.
"I know what she's going through," said Sabalenka said, who had her own serving problems a couple of two seasons ago.
"This is really difficult. This is really tough, but I know that if she'll be able to overcome this serve situation.
"She already one of the best players, but I'm pretty sure she's going to be one of the greatest players."
Sabalenka added on the WTA Tour website: "I was just trying to put as much pressure on her as I can so she would go even crazier on her serve."
In Saturday's other match, fifth seed Zheng beat compatriot Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-4 in the first all-Chinese semi-final at a WTA 1000 event.
Olympic champion Zheng continued her fine run through the Asian swing to book a place in a first WTA 1000 final, setting up a repeat of the 2024 Australian Open final, which was won by Sabalenka in straight sets.
