France's Alize Cornet reached the semi-finals of the WTA grass court tournament in Berlin with an upset win over former Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza on Friday.

Cornet, currently 63rd in the world, dug deep to seal a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Spain's two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza, now ranked 13th, after almost three hours on court.

This is the 31-year-old Cornet's first appearance in the semi-finals of a WTA tournament for nearly two years.

She will play Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, ranked 12th in the world, on Saturday for a place in the final.

Bencic, the fifth seed, booked her semi-final slot with a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) win over Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova.