Sonay Kartal's dream comeback continues as the Briton beat Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets on Saturday to advance to the biggest final of her career at the Wuhan Open. Kartal was behind in both sets and fought off six set points to claim a 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5) win over the former French Open champion in her second tour-level tournament back after injury.

The 24-year-old, who started this week ranked world No 170 due to her recent inactivity, becomes the lowest-ranked player to reach a WTA 1000 final since the format began in 2009. The victory means Kartal is guaranteed to jump into the world's top 50 in the WTA rankings next week, overtaking Katie Boulter to become the British No 1.

"That was probably one of the toughest matches I've played in," Kartal said. "At times [Ostapenko] is unplayable and sometimes you have to ride that wave. Mentally, this is one of the best performances I've had."

Kartal clawed back a double break in the opening set and rode her luck on serve before forcing a marathon tie-break, which she edged 11-9 after saving two set points. She also had to dig deep in the second set, recovering another break and saving two more set points on serve at 6-5, forcing a second tie-break that she took to complete the win.

It extends a remarkable series of wins against the former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, two-time slam finalist Jasmine Paolini and the world No 6, Elina Svitolina.

Kartal made her breakthrough by reaching the fourth round of last year's Wimbledon, but her career stalled after sustaining a back injury that kept her out of action for six months. She showed positive signs by winning two matches on her return at the China Open this month.

In the other semi-final, a left-leg ⁠injury derailed Iga Swiatek as she ⁠went down ⁠fighting ​to Polish compatriot and childhood friend Maja ⁠Chwalinska 7-5, 6-1. Swiatek, a six-time grand slam ‌winner, ‌had to take a medical ‌timeout while trailing 6-5 in the first set and continued the match with a bandaged ‌left thigh, but found it difficult to ​put pressure on her leg and struggled to chase returns across the ⁠court.