(Reuters) - Anett Kontaveit brought Taiwan giant killer Hsieh Su-wei's Miami Open run to a dramatic end with a 3-6 6-2 7-5 comeback win on Tuesday to become the first player through to the semi-finals.
After beating Japan's world number one Naomi Osaka in the third round and 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth, the 33-year-old Hsieh looked poised to add the 21st-seeded Estonian to her collection by racing to a 4-0 lead in the third set.
But Kontaveit, 10 years her junior, took a page from the Taiwanese player's playbook and dug in.
In her third round win over Osaka, 27th seed Hsieh rallied from a set and a break down but this time the tables were turned.
Kontaveit bravely battled back to get on level terms and, with Hsieh serving at 6-5 to force a tiebreak, moved in for the kill, breaking the tiring Taiwanese to clinch a stirring win.
The Estonian now awaits the winner of the match between third-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova and Australian 12th seed Ashleigh Barty.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Ken Ferris)