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.
"I think I had opportunities the second set. I just let them slip. It was nice to be able to take a couple of my opportunities in the third," said Barty, a finalist here in 2017.
"It's just nice to be able to back up a result from last year. It's obviously always in the back of your mind, worrying -- not worrying about, but knowing you've played here well before gives you that extra confidence to come out and play freely."
Barty will take Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final.
Sabalenka beat Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 6-3 in their quarter-final.
Qiang Wang beat Monica Puig 6-3 6-1 in the the other completed quarter-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.
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