World number four Petra Kvitova continued her fine start to the 2019 season by beating Hsieh Su-wei in Dubai to reach her third final of the year.

The 28-year-old Czech, who won the Sydney title before losing to Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open final, won 3-6 6-2 6-4 in Friday’s semi-final.

Kvitova will play Swiss youngster Belinda Bencic, who beat Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, in Saturday’s final.

Bencic, 21, trailed 5-3 in the deciding set before winning 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-3).

“I think from 3-5, I just completely zoned out. Basically I stayed in the zone, even in the tie-break,” said Bencic, who has been mentored by five-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Hingis.

“I was barely breathing, just playing automatic. You are not thinking any more. It’s where the instincts just guide you through it.”

The world number 45 beat a top-10 ranked player for the third successive match, having also fought back from behind to see off Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Romania’s world number two Simona Halep.

She missed three match points at 6-5 before taking her fourth opportunity in the tie-break.

Bencic dropped down the rankings after suffering a serious wrist injury two years ago, but continued a fine week by reaching her first Premier final on the WTA Tour since 2016.

Bencic faces Kvitova again after she lost 6-1 6-4 to the two-time Wimbledon champion in the third round in Melbourne last month.

“There she was on a roll. She crushed us all,” Bencic said. “It will be a tough final.”

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