Russian No.5 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova moved into the second WTA final of her career at the Shenzhen Open as she brushed past former world No.1 Garbine Muguruza 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 16 minutes on Centre Court.
After both players held serve for the first five games, world No.34 Alexandrova (career high) struck first with a break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead, and although she squandered three set points en route to losing her first service game at 5-3, the Russian put paid to any hopes of a Muguruza resurgence when she broke the Spaniard in the next game to take a one set lead.