Iva Jovic will face top seed Jessica Pegula for a place in the Charleston Open final after she eased past Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets. 

Jovic is the third American to reach the semi-finals of the competition, after Pegula and Madison Keys, doing so with an impressive 6-3 6-4 victory in one hour and 21 minutes. 

The 18-year-old set the tone for her triumph in a dominant first set, breaking Kalinskaya early on to race into a 3-0 lead. 

But Kalinskaya responded with a break of her own, only for Jovic to return the favour and take the early advantage at the third time of asking. 

Back-to-back breaks of serve opened the second set, with Kalinskaya pulling two games clear, though Jovic regrouped and reeled off three of the final four games to progress. 

And her reward is a clash against reigning champion Pegula, who has come from a set down in her last three matches, and Jovic is expecting another testing encounter. 

"Jess [Pegula] is as good as it gets," Jovic said. "The consistency she's been able to show throughout her career is incredible.

"We play kind of similar. I think it's going to be about who executes better, and it’s definitely going to be a battle. I’m looking forward to it."

McCartney Kessler, meanwhile, failed to make it an all-American final four after she was comfortably beaten by Yulia Starodubtseva 6-4 6-4 earlier in the day. 

Data Debrief: Jovic's service game the difference

Though neither player were particularly strong on serve, Jovic was able to get the job done after winning 46% (25/44) of her first-serve points compared to Kalinskaya's 34%. 

Jovic is now in her third WTA Tour semi-final of the season and her first since January, when she reached the Hobart final before falling to Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto. 

It will be just her second meeting with Pegula, who won the first in straight sets earlier this year in Dubai.