Summary Garbine Muguruza beat Zarina Diyas 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to reach semi-finals of the Shenzhen Open.
SHANGHAI (AFP) - Garbine Muguruza stepped up her Australian Open preparations by sending down 13 aces Thursday while battling into the semi-finals of the Shenzhen Open.
Spain s former world number one defeated Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 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 of Russia in the last four in southern China.
"I did a good pre-season, I worked very hard," said 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.
"Stay there when things don t go well and keep fighting through. Good things will come."
The other semi-final will be between unseeded Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan s 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.
Mertens follows top seed Belinda Bencic and second seed Aryna Sabalenka -- who was the defending champion -- out of the Shenzhen Open.
The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, begins in under a fortnight.
