Dubai Championship: Kerber to meet Svitolina in semifinal

Holder and top seed Svitolina brushed aside Japan's Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 while German sixth seed Kerber won a rematch of the 2016 US Open final, beating Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-3.

Kerber, ranked ninth after a good start to the season, claimed her 15th win of the year, pulling her level for the most on the WTA circuit with world number one Caroline Wozniacki.

"I have much more confidence than when I started the year where I actually had no idea where I was, especially after last year," Kerber said.

"I have already so many matches under my belt, so that gives me much more match confidence.

"I'm going out there and just thinking about the next match, the next point -- nothing else."

"I had a couple of tough matches against her. I had to be ready for her to come back," Svitolina said. "I had to be ready for her to raise her level."

World number four Svitolina took control of the opening set against Osaka with a 5-0 lead.

After claiming the first set, Svitolina's level dropped, with Osaka breaking in the second game and taking a 4-1 advantage before being reeled in.

Svitolina raced to victory with five consecutive games, closing out the win on a net cord.

"Definitely I'm happy the way I've been handling the pressure and tough moments," she said.

"I had two good matches. I cannot say it was amazing tennis, but when I needed to I was stepping up and playing well."