Jelena Ostapenko completed a hat-trick of wins over Grand Slam champions and moved into her second semifinal in as many weeks, saving a match point to triumph 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(9) over Petra Kvitova in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals.

The unseeded Latvian, who reached the St. Petersburg semifinals last week, had only won one match in four previous appearances in Dubai. Despite Kvitova leading by a set and a break, twice serving for the match, and holding a 4-2 advantage in the deciding tiebreak, Ostapenko added the 2013 champion to a list of victims this week that included Sofia Kenin and Iga Swiatek in previous rounds.

The 2-hour, 39-minute victory sealed Ostapenko's fourth semifinal-or-better run in her last seven tournaments - a run of consistency that guarantees her a return to the Top 20 for the first time since Oct. 2018 in next week's rankings. The 24-year-old also levelled her head-to-head against Kvitova at four wins apiece (three each on outdoor hard courts).

Ostapenko will next play 2020 champion Simona Halep in a bid to reach the final.

By the numbers: Both players tallied 32 winners, but Ostapenko kept her unforced error count to 35 compared to Kvitova's 46. Kvitova played purer first-strike tennis, firing 11 aces to Ostapenko's two and 18 clean return winners to Ostapenko's 11, but more often than not it was the latter who would find something special to end high-octane rallies when they occurred.

Kvitova was also beset by seven double faults, two of which came each time she attempted to serve out the match. In the deciding tiebreak, her first serve percentage dropped, and Ostapenko took advantage by repeatedly jamming her with deep returns at her feet.

Scoreboard management: Ostapenko got off to a lightning start, leaping out to a 4-1 lead and holding a point for a 5-1 double-break lead. But Kvitova fended that off with a dropshot, and seized control to reel off six of the next seven games - though her one blip, failing to serve out the set at 5-4, would foreshadow what was to come. Aptly enough, each of the five service breaks of the first set was captured with a clean return winner.

Supreme returning saw Kvitova break Ostapenko in the first game of the second set, but the World No.21 showed real resilience to keep things close. Kvitova held two points for a 5-2 double-break lead, only to be denied by a flashy forehand and a service winner from Ostapenko.

Kvitova came two points from victory serving at 5-4, 30-0, but bold returning under pressure from Ostapenko opened an escape route. From 5-3 down in the second set, Ostapenko rattled through six games on the trot to open up a break lead in the decider.

Momentum swung both ways throughout the final set. Kvitova, ruthlessly punishing every Ostapenko second serve that hoved into view, won five out of seven games from 2-0 down to advance once again to the verge of victory. But serving at 5-4, the pattern of both previous sets repeated itself: the 31-year-old's first serve faltered and Ostapenko conjured up some moments of brilliance to survive.

The same was true in a tiebreak decided by the thinnest of margins. A marvellous drive volley got Ostapenko back on track from 4-2 down, and she held the first two match points at 6-5 and 7-6. Kvitova denied those with a return winner and a gorgeous sliding serve out wide, but missed a backhand by inches on her own match point at 8-7. Ostapenko would get over the line on her fourth match point, landing a forehand winner in the corner with such accuracy that her only response was a look of pure astonishment.

Kudermetova battles past Teichmann to reach semifinals

In a duel of unseeded players, Veronika Kudermetova reached her third career WTA 500 semifinal after defeating lucky loser Jil Teichmann 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in 2 hours and 23 minutes. The Russian was previously runner-up at Abu Dhabi 2021 and captured her maiden title at Charleston 2021.

Though Kudermetova's singles results tailed off after those highlights last year, her 2022 form suggests a resurgence. She opened the year with a runner-up showing at Melbourne Summer Set 1, and against Teichmann kept her focus even after the Swiss snatched the second set from a break down.

Highlights: Kudermetova d. Teichmann

Teichmann, the only one of Dubai 2021's semifinalists to have reached this year's last eight, also recovered from an early break down in the third set to lead 4-3. But in the home stretch, Kudermetova was able to control her power and find key big serves to get over the line.

Kudermetova will play qualifier Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinals.