Miami, March 29: Karolina Pliskova blitzed Simona Halep in a stunning performance as she reached the Miami Open final.
Czech star Pliskova stormed past second seed Halep 7-5 6-1 in Thursday's rain-interrupted semi-final clash at the Premier Mandatory event.
Halep led 5-3 in the opening set, however, Pliskova reeled off the next four games to stun the world number one hopeful.
Pliskova won 10 of the last 11 games against Halep – who needed to reach the Miami final to dislodge Naomi Osaka atop the WTA rankings – hitting 23 winners and 16 unforced errors.
.@KaPliskova holds off Halep and the rain, 7-5, 6-1!
Moves into the @MiamiOpen final! pic.twitter.com/j6K2yRuQNd
— WTA (@WTA) March 29, 2019
There was another rain delay as Pliskova moved within a game of a showdown with Ashleigh Barty – play eventually resuming after 01:00 local time (05:00 GMT).
Halep returned and managed to avoid a second-set bagel but it only temporarily halted the inevitable in the early hours of Friday morning.
"Not easy, day and night, because we waited for so long," Pliskova – who converted five of seven break-point chances – said in an on-court interview.
"The conditions can change here in Miami so I think we were both ready for this day because since the morning it was tough.
"But I stayed half the day in the hotel which was nice and now it was a little bit long, but after the first break I just started playing a little bit better. I was fighting a bit more and just playing more aggressive and it paid off."
Find the best IPL odds at 10Cric! Bet on all matches directly from your mobile phone.
Play casino in India at 7Jackpots, and enjoy real money games with fast and secure withdrawal options.