Karolina Pliskova huffed and puffed, and eventually overcame Garbine Muguruza's resistance to reach the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals.

Czech third seed Pliskova needed a third match point to see off French Open champion Muguruza 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5) on Wednesday.

Muguruza refused to surrender as she faced elimination in the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, rallying from 5-2 down in the second set as she fended off two match points heading into a tie-break.

Pliskova, however, was not to be denied her third semi-final of 2017, having reigned supreme in Doha and Brisbane this year.

KUZNETSOVA AWAITS IN FINAL FOUR

Standing in the way of Pliskova and a spot in the final is Russian eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Kuznetsova - a two-time BNP Paribas Open finalist - was too strong for countrywoman Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3 6-2.

Former world number two Kuznetsova was largely untroubled as she tallied 21 winners and just 12 unforced errors to reach the semis for the first time since 2008.