Iga Swiatek digs deep to secure Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semi-final place

Defending champion and world number one Iga Swiatek showcased all her experience to book a semi-final place at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Swiatek fought back from a set down against Karolina Pliskova to claim a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory.

"Overall I felt like at the beginning I couldn't really focus," Swiatek said. "When she's serving, these are like really milliseconds that matter. So I feel like I was playing already good tennis at the end of the first set, but it was already too late kind of to even the score."

She will now face Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who dropped just three games in seeing off Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3 6-0.

"For sure when you have Ons, you're not gonna expect an easy match," Swiatek said. "It's gonna be a little bit different than most of the matches you play. You have to be ready for different game style. It's pretty exciting, but when you're out there on court it's tough."

Swiatek is one win away from reaching the final in her first tournament for over a month after suffering a rib injury.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka will meet Anastasia Potapova in the second semi-final after Sabalenka beat wild card Paula Badosa 4-6 6-3 6-3.