The top two seeds will contest the Birmingham Classic final on Sunday after Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova secured their places.

Krejcikova’s run to the final of the pre-Wimbledon grass-court event will lift her back into the world’s top 10.

Later on Saturday, second seed Ostapenko came from behind to beat Russian Anastasia Potapova 5-7 6-2 6-4 and reach a third grass-court final.

Latvian Ostapenko needed three sets to secure victory for the fourth time this week, with her run to the final including a gruelling win over seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the previous round.

Potapova, featuring in her first grass-court semi-final, needed six set points to secure the opener before Ostapenko swiftly went a double break up in the second set and secured a deciding set with a stunning forehand down the line.

It was at 3-3 in the third set where the 2017 French Open champion earned a crucial break, hitting four remarkable return winners before sealing the match at the first time of asking when Potapova thrashed her return into the net.

“It was a difficult match – I don’t know how I did it, every match has been tough. It’s never easy and it’s important to win these kind of matches when you’re not playing your best,” Ostapenko said.

“It’s great to play in a final before Wimbledon and get some confidence.”

Earlier, Krejcikova brushed aside world number 39 Zhu in a dominant performance.

The 2021 French Open champion has not dropped a set all week in Birmingham and the win will move her back inside the world’s top 10 for the first time since May 2022 when the next rankings are published on Monday.

“Being in the top 10 is a goal that you have as a kid. It’s really nice to be back but it’s just numbers so I want to keep going,” Krejcikova said.

The Czech claimed her maiden Grand Slam singles title in 2021 but missed a chunk of last season with an elbow injury and dropped down the rankings.

“It’s always tricky on grass,” she said. “It’s up and down and you have to focus on every ball. I was choosing my shots well and my serve was working – I played well.”

Sunday’s final is at 14:00 BST and you can watch it live on the BBC Sport website and app and BBC iPlayer.

Kvitova to face Vekic in German Open final

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will face Croatia’s Donna Vekic, ranked 23rd in the world, in the German Open final after the Czech beat Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-4.

Kvitova needed just one break in each set and sealed victory with an ace on her second match point to end Alexandrova’s winning run with the 28-year-old having claimed the title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week.

Several players, including the two finalists, had to play twice on Saturday after their quarter-final matches were postponed on Friday because of heavy rain in Germany.

Vekic, whose run to the final included a shock triumph over Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-4 7-6 (10-8) in Berlin as she continued her bid for a fifth career title.

The 26-year-old had first beaten lucky loser Elina Avanesyan in straight sets in their quarter-final on Saturday morning while Kvitova came out on top in a top-10 meeting with France’s Caroline Garcia.

The world number nine won 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to set up the semi-final against Alexandrova, who had advanced automatically when her quarter-final opponent, Russian Veronika Kudermetova, withdrew with a hip injury.