Top seed Simona Halep came back from 4-1 down in the deciding set to beat Elina Svitolina in the Qatar Open semifinals Friday.
World No. 3 Halep prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to mark her first victory over Ukrainian Svitolina in nearly two years and reach her first final of the new season.
Halep made an aggressive start and claimed an early break with a scorching backhand winner to set the tone for the evening. The Romanian clinched the opening set before WTA Finals champion Svitolina upped her aggression from the baseline for a break and a 2-1 lead in the second set.
After taking the second set, Svitolina claimed an early break again in the final set while also frustrating her opponent with her relentless court coverage. Seeking another break to close out the match, Svitolina came out on top in several high-octane rallies during an eight-minute sixth game and held three break points for a 5-1 lead in the final set.
But Halep summoned her powers of recovery to fend off all three points and went on to clinch five straight and the remarkable victory. Halep last defeated Svitolina in the 2017 French Open quarterfinals but did not win a set in their following three encounters.
"I'm happy because I didn't give up. The two finals that I played against her in Rome, I gave up and I was not ready to fight," said Halep, who will face unseeded Belgian Elise Mertens in Saturday's final. "Now I change that, and it makes me happier, because I showed myself that I'm able to do that.
"The mental part is really important... but definitely today I was stronger physically as well, because against Svitolina [it] is never easy to win a match. She's very strong on the legs."
Mertens scored her second top-10 victory of the week as she battled past three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. Mertens, who defeated fifth-seeded Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals, has failed to win a set against Halep in her previous two meetings -- both on clay last year.