Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei has shocked Karolina Pliskova by roaring back from 1-5 down in a deciding set to win 6-4 1-6 7-5 and advance to the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Her success against Czech Pliskova on Thursday continues a remarkable record against former world No.1s, having beaten Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the previous round in Dubai and memorably conquering Simona Halep at Wimbledon last year.

“I felt I had to apologise to Pliskova because I was crying and screaming so much,” said the 33-year-old after reaching her first Premier-level tour semi-final.

“It was not easy to come back. I say to myself, ‘Okay, if she [does] not ace me, I hit the ball so much harder than before, then she cannot hit a winner.'”

Hsieh fired a backhand down the line to earn the break that saw her claim the first set lead over the Australian Open semi-finalist.

Pliskova, who missed nine chances to break her opponent, roared back in the second set to level the match without facing a single break point.

The 26-year-old surged to a match-winning position at 5-1 but the Czech’s errors piled up allowing Hsieh to break back twice for 5-5, and a wild backhand from Pliskova at 6-5, confirmed Hsieh’s triumph.

Hsieh will meet Petra Kvitova in Friday’s final four after the two-time Wimbledon champion dispatched Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4 6-0 to advance.

Later on Thursday the quarter-finals conclude with Halep playing Belinda Belic and Carla Suarez Navarro taking on Elina Svitolina.