Simona Halep will finally claim the WTA's number-one ranking for the first time after beating Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4 to reach the final of the China Open on Saturday.

Prior to her last-four tie in Beijing, Halep had come within one win of topping the rankings on three occasions in 2017, only to fall short each time.

The most painful of those near-misses came at Roland Garros in June, when the Romanian lost the French Open final to Ostapenko after leading by a set and a break.

Yet it was a different story on this occasion as Halep, 26, continued an excellent week that had already seen her avenge recent losses to Maria Sharapova and Daria Kasatkina.

As a result of her triumph, Halep will now replace Garbine Muguruza as world number one on Monday. She is the first Romanian to reach top spot in the WTA rankings.