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Simona Halep reacts after defeating Angelique KerberMark Kolbe/Getty

World number 1 Simona Halep quelled a tenacious Angelique Kerber fightback and saved two match points to reach her first Australian Open final with a 6-3 4-6 9-7 victory in a compelling scrap at the Rod Laver Arena on Thursday January 25.

A wildly unpredictable match veered one way, then the other, before Halep finally broke Kerber's resistance to claim victory on her fourth match point when her exhausted opponent fired a backhand over the baseline.

When Halep won the first five games it seemed the expected battle royal between two of the game's most ferocious competitors would turn into a damp squib.

But Kerber roared back and had two match points at 6-5 in a brutal deciding set before Halep turned it around with some brave hitting to seal victory in two hours and 20 minutes.

The 26-year-old plays Caroline Wozniacki in Saturday's final when both players will be gunning for their first grand slam title and the world number one ranking.

Wozniacki defeats Elise Mertens

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Caroline WozniackiMark Kolbe/Getty

Caroline Wozniacki came through a late bout of nerves to reach the Australian Open final for the first time with a 6-3 7-6(2) victory over Belgian Elise Mertens on Thursday, giving herself another shot at winning a maiden grand slam title.

The Dane had dominated her second Melbourne Park semi-final until she was 5-4, 30-0 up and serving for the match but suddenly faltered with a pair of double faults to allow her 22-year-old opponent back into the contest.

Mertens, playing only her fifth grand slam, took full advantage and unleashing a string of winners, broke the former world number one and racked up two set points.

Unlike in her 2011 semi-final against Li Na, when she blew a match point, Wozniacki was able to recover her composure and saved them both on the back of a couple of booming serves.

After four deuces, the 27-year-old held with a thumping forehand then raced away with the ensuing tiebreak to seal a title-decider against Simona Halep.

Wozniacki has yet to win a grand slam title despite spending 67 weeks as world number 1 and is the only player to have won more than 25 WTA titles without claiming a major title.