Romanian Simona Halep booked her place in the final of the Madrid Open tennis tournament on Saturday with a hard-fought three-set win over Petra Kvitova.

After just one break apiece, it was fifth seed Kvitova who edged a first set tiebreaker and the Czech looked on her way to her first final of the season when she led 3-1 early in the second.

Halep responded by taking the next seven games to level at one set all and go an early break ahead in the decider.

The fourth seed then broke the Kvitova serve once more to move ahead 5-2 and comfortably completed victory 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-2 in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Halep sets up a meeting with Russian Maria Sharapova or Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in Sunday’s final.