Intro:

Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep will contest the final of the Madrid Open.

The Russian beat Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets, while the Romanian fought back from a set down to defeat Petra Kvitova.

Script:

Simona Halep battled back from a set down to defeat Petra Kvitova and book her place in the final of the Madrid Open.

The Romanian won 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 38 minutes to advance through.

Kvitova, the 2011 champion, took the first set after a tense tie-break which saw the Czech waste two set points, before eventually wrapping up proceedings when Halep served a double fault.

The Romanian lost serve in the opening game of the second set, but managed to move up a gear to eventually win the set 6-3 having earned two breaks of serve to level the contest.

The deciding set continued in a similar way, with the former Wimbledon champion this time losing serve in the opening game.

The Czech fifth seed struggled in the final set and looked sapped of energy by the end of the match.

Halep, the world number five will face Maria Sharapova in the final, after the Russian recovered from a second-set wobble to despatch third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-4.

The former world number one has had a poor year by her high standards, but has shown glimpses of her dominant best on clay in the Spanish capital ahead of the French Open later this month.

Poland's Radwanska, the world number three, struggled to cope with her opponent's powerful ground strokes as Sharapova took a step closer to a 31st career title.

After comfortably winning the opening set and racing into a 3-0 lead in the second, the Russian eighth seed had to deal with a spirited fightback, but prevailed to secure a meeting with Halep.

The four time Grand Slam champion securing victory in just 68 minutes.

The 27-year-old's chances of going one better than 2013 were boosted when Serena Williams, who beat her in last year's final, withdrew on Friday with a thigh injury.