Fourth-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza has won a lengthy battle against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia on a hot and windy day to reach the Cincinnati Open semi-finals on Friday.

Wimbledon champion Muguruza stuck out her tongue in exasperation after finally prevailing 6-2 5-7 7-5 in the two hour 45-minute contest between the two grand slam winners.

“I think it was one of the best matches of the year,” Muguruza said.

“I think we both played very well, especially in the third set.”

Playing a day after deadly attacks killed a total of 14 people in Barcelona and the coastal town of Cambrils in Spain, Muguruza wore a white visor with a black ribbon as a tribute.

“Barcelona te siento. Barcelona I feel you,” Muguruza wrote on Twitter after the match.

Next up for Muguruza is world No.1 Karolina Pliskova, who won back-to-back matches on Friday.

The Czech first defeated Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi 6-3 4-6 6-0 in a match postponed by a day because of rain.

The top seed then took another step toward successfully defending her title by overpowering Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4 in her second match for the day.

Pliskova had 27 winners to Wozniacki’s eight with only 13 unforced errors compared to the sixth-seeded Dane’s 19.

Sloane Stephens continued her strong form after her recent return from a long-term absence with a foot injury by beating German Julia Goerges 6-1 7-6 (7-3) in their quarter-final showdown.

The American will play Simona Halep in the semi-finals after the Romanian overcame seventh-seeded Johanna Konta 6-4 7-6 (7-1).

The second-seeded Halep squandered a number of match points and served for the match twice before holding her nerve in the tiebreaker.

Halep’s victory keeps her hopes alive of returning to the top ranking on Monday.