Simona Halep dismisses Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets for Shenzhen final place, Sharapova out

Playing her own doubles partner, it was the world No 1's 11th straight victory, setting her in excellent stead for the impending Australian Open, which starts on January 15.

Despite Begu’s ferocious groundstrokes, Halep broke the fourth seed four times to seal her victory in a match that was over in 89 minutes.

Speaking after the match, 26-year-old Halep said: "It was a tough match, I know that she's a very strong player and in the second set, you could see that she was improving her game. I was strong enough to hit the ball [well] in the end...and I'm really proud with my victory today.”

Halep will play Katerina Siniakova in the final on Saturday after she beat Maria Sharapova in their semi-final match.

The Czech took an early lead after breaking Sharapova in the third game of the opening set and again in the seventh to take an easy first set 6-2.

However, Siniakova defended five break points in the second game of the second set, only to lose the sixth and give Sharapova an advantage. Unable to break back, Sharapova took a 6-3 victory to force a deciding set.

Sharapova was broken in the sixth game of the final set, and went on to defend three match points over the final two games of the third set, losing on the fourth to hand Siniakova a place in the final.