Top seed Iga Swiatek will face former world No 2 Barbora Krejcikova in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final after both players successfully came through their semi-final matches on Friday.
Swiatek, the world No 1, extended her dominance over Coco Gauff, beating the American fifth seed comfortably for the sixth time in six meetings as the Pole eased to a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
It continues a blistering return to form for the three-time Grand Slam champion, who arrived in the UAE following a dominant march to the Qatar Open title, where she conceded just five games in three matches. "For sure I'm happy that I started both sets well," Swiatek, 21, said. "I think she used her chances to come back and to win a break. "But honestly, I felt like with the way I started I could also always come back to the game I played at the beginning.
I'm pretty happy that I was solid and just confident." Swiatek will understandably be favourite for Saturday's final, but she admitted she is being hindered slightly by a cold. "I have a sore throat, just having a cold," she said. "Not the first time during the tournaments.