Simona Halep moved closer to reclaiming the world number one ranking after defeating China’s Wang Qiang 6-4 7-5 to reach the Miami Open semi-finals.

Halep only needs to reach Saturday’s final to knock Japan’s Naomi Osaka off the top women’s rankings.

The 27-year-old from Romania was 5-1 down in the second set but fought back by winning six consecutive games.

“My coach said I was rushing a bit so I managed to calm down,” she said.

“That was great advice. I started well and played some smart tennis but in the second set, she started to raise her game.”

Halep converted seven of eight break points and hit 24 winners compared to 14 from Wang.

She will play the winner of an all-Czech contest between world number five Karolina Pliskova and Marketa Vondrousova in the next round.

The other semi-final will be played between Anett Kontaveit of Estonia and Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.