British number one Johanna Konta recovered from losing her first two service games to sweep to a 6-4 6-0 win over China's world number 36 Zhang Shuai in the China Open quarter-finals.
The 25-year-old was 4-0 down in the opening set, but won the final 12 games to deflate Zhang in front of her home fans.
Konta also recorded a straight-set win over Zhang at the Wuhan Open last week.
She will play American eighth seed Madison Keys in the semi-finals.
The victory also increases the chances of Konta qualifying for the season-ending WTA finals in Singapore.
The tournament, which begins on 23 October, will feature the year's top eight players. Three spots are still up for grabs and world number 14 Konta's progress to the semi-finals will take her up to 10th at least before her participation in next week's Hong Kong Open.
| The race for the remaining Singapore slot | |
|---|---|
| Names | Points |
| 6. Garbine Muguruza | 3558 |
| 7. Dominika Cibulkova | 3495 |
| 8. Madison Keys | 3137 |
| 9. Carla Suarez Navarro | 3052 |
| 10. Svetlana Kuznetsova | 2881 |
| 11. Johanna Konta | 2835 |
| 12 Petra Kvitova | 2555 |
Zhang, who beat world number five Simona Halep in the previous round to make the China Open last eight for the first time, started well but folded in dramatic style as Konta found her range.
The Chinese player won just 11 points in the final set.
On the other side of the draw, Ukrainian 16th seed Elina Svitolina will play either Agnieszka Radwanska or Yaroslava Shvedova in the other semi-final.
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