Australian Open: Halep beats defending champion Kerber to reach finals

World number one Simona Halep will take on Caroline Wozniacki in the Australian Open final, after battling it out with defending champion Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals.

The 26-year-old player, who was the first Romanian to compete at this stage at Melbourne Park, saved two match points on her way to a 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 victory to take the German out of the tournament.

Both Halep and Kerber had their chances to put the match away in the 68-minute-long third set.

Halep was serving for the match at 5-3, but was broken after Kerber ended a 26-stroke rally with a backhand winner, but exhaustion took the best of her. The Romanian had two match points in the next game, but Kerber saved the first with a backhand down the line and the second when Halep hit into the net.

After Kerber broke to take a 6-5 lead, she then had two match points of her own, but Halep saved them both and then broke back to level the match at 6-all.

Serving at 7-8, the German saved a third match point before Halep finally converted on the fourth when the German sent a ball long.

Now, she will face Caroline Wozniacki, a straight-set winner over Elise Mertens, with both women looking for a first major title.

The world number one ranking will also be up for grabs for the new Australian Open champion.