World No 1 Simona Halep battled past Angelique Kerber on Thursday to set up an Australian Open final against Caroline Wozniacki.

Halep raced into a 6-3, 3-1 lead before Kerber fought back to win the second set 6-4. But the Romanian went on to clinch an epic fifth set 9-7, winning her fourth match point.

‘It definitely was very tough, I’m shaking, I’m very emotional,’ said Halep after the match, which lasted two hours and 20 minutes. ‘She’s a very tough opponent. I’m really glad that I could resist [her] and win this match.

‘I had confidence in myself. I decided after I twisted my ankle [in the first round] that I will fight for every point in this tournament and then I will rest. I didn’t give up, not even a ball. If you don’t give up you can win the match in the end. I did it and I’m really proud of myself.’

In the first semi-final, Wozniacki overcame unseeded Belgian Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in one hour and 37 minutes.

The 22-year-old Dane cruised through the first set and served for the match at 5-4 in the second, only to lose her serve. Mertens had two set points at 6-5, but Wozniacki forced a tiebreak, which she won comfortably.

‘I got really tight at 5-4,’ Wozniacki admitted. ‘I think I was nervous. I didn’t do much wrong for the first three points of that game. I served two good serves, then I had that forehand down the line which I missed by a couple of millimetres. It was 30-15 instead of 40-0. All of a sudden, yeah, it just turned around.

‘Once she had set points. I thought, “OK, now you just have to go for it … she’s nervous now too,”‘ Wozniacki added. ‘I managed to gather myself and thankfully closed it out in the end.’