The ninth seed grew into the semifinal match against Germany’s Görges, seeded fifth, and dominated the third set to book her place in Sunday’s showdown in Zhuhai.

Görges, who celebrated her 30th birthday on Friday, dropped two service games in the deciding set as her 22-year-old opponent motored to victory.

Earlier, sixth seed Madison Keys pulled out of her semifinal tie against Garbiñe Muguruza with a knee injury.

The American was due to play the Spaniard on Saturday evening at the Hengqin International Tennis Center for a place in the final.

Keys, 23, was replaced by 26-year-old Wang Qiang, China’s number one, who finished second in their round-robin group with Daria Kasatkina.

Now in its fourth year, the Elite Trophy features 12 players ranked roughly from nine to 20. This year’s total prize money is US$2.35 million (RM9.78 million) across the singles and doubles tournaments.