Top seed Simona Halep ousted Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in three sets to advance to her third final at the Italian Open on Sunday, played on front of a small number of spectators for the first time.
The Romanian dropped her second set on clay in Rome before seeing off Muguruza 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a battle of former French Open champions before Roland Garros in a week’s time.
Halep — the 2018 French Open winner — will next play Czech defending champion Karolina Pliskova, the second seed in the final.
The Wimbledon champion, 28, has finished runner-up in her two previous finals at the Foro Italico in 2017 and 2018.
Ninth seed Muguruza, the 2016 Roland Garros champion, fell to her fourth semi-final defeat in Rome, the furthest she has gone in the tournament.
World No 2 Halep extended her winning streak this season to 13 consecutive victories.