Ashleigh Barty has recovered from a break down in the deciding set to move through to the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open.

Riding a wave of confidence after downing Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the round of 16, the Australian moved past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in their quarter-final, 6-2 5-7 6-4.

After breezing through the first set off the back of two breaks of serve, Barty was overwhelmed by the free-wheeling Russian towards the back end of the second.

Pavlyuchenkova also had the edge in the third set, serving with a 3-2 lead but was immediately broken back as the Queenslander secured four of the next five games to take the match.

Barty, who is a defending finalist from 2017 at the tournament, will take on the winner of the Dominika Cibulkova and Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final.

A tournament victory in China would take Barty, currently No.17 in the world, to a projected career high of No.15 and above Serena Williams.