Garbine Muguruza stepped up her Australian Open preparations by sending down 13 aces on Thursday while battling into the semi-finals of the Shenzhen Open.
Spain’s former world number one defeated Zarina Diyas 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to reach her first semi-final since winning a title in Monterrey, Mexico last April.
The 26-year-old Muguruza, now ranked 35 in the world and the sixth seed, faces fifth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last four.
“I did a good pre-season, I worked very hard,” Muguruza, the two-time Grand Slam champion who endured a poor second half to 2019.
“There’s not a secret to success. When you work hard, in the end things will pay off.
The other semi-final will be between unseeded Kristyna Pliskova and seventh seed Elena Rybakina.
Rybakina booked her place with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 victory over the third seed Elise Mertens of Belgium.