Britain’s Dan Evans reached his first ATP Tour semi-final for over two years by beating Italian Andreas Seppi in their Delray Beach Open quarter-final.

Evans, 28, won 6-4 6-4 as he continues to rebuild his career following a drugs ban last year.

Ranked inside the top 50 two years ago, he has climbed back to 148th and will rise into the top 120 next week.

He will play either American John Isner or France’s Adrian Mannarino, who meet later on Friday, in the last four.

Evans made a quick start against 35-year-old Seppi, who was once ranked inside the world’s top 20, by breaking in the first game and going on to claim a 4-0 lead.

Despite Seppi briefly rallying, Evans saw out the opening set and earned a decisive break in the third game of the second set.

He served out victory on his first match point with an ace out wide, reaching the third ATP semi-final of his career and the first since returning to the sport last April.

World number four Petra Kvitova continued her fine start to the 2019 season by beating Hsieh Su-wei in Dubai to reach her third final of the year.

The 28-year-old Czech, who won the Sydney title before losing to Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open final, won 3-6 6-2 6-4 in Friday’s semi-final.

Kvitova will play Swiss youngster Belinda Bencic, who beat Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, in Saturday’s final.

Bencic, 21, trailed 5-3 in the deciding set before winning 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-3).

“I think from 3-5, I just completely zoned out. Basically I stayed in the zone, even in the tie-break,” said Bencic, who has been mentored by five-time Grand Slam singles champion Martina Hingis.

“I was barely breathing, just playing automatic. You are not thinking any more. It’s where the instincts just guide you through it.”

The world number 45 beat a top-10 ranked player for the third successive match, having also fought back from behind to see off Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Romania’s world number two Simona Halep.

She missed three match points at 6-5 before taking her fourth opportunity in the tie-break.

Bencic dropped down the rankings after suffering a serious wrist injury two years ago, but continued a fine week by reaching her first Premier final on the WTA Tour since 2016.

Bencic faces Kvitova again after she lost 6-1 6-4 to the two-time Wimbledon champion in the third round in Melbourne last month.

“There she was on a roll. She crushed us all,” Bencic said. “It will be a tough final.”

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

Top seed Juan Martin del Potro eased through to the quarter-finals of the Delray Beach Open with a 6-4 6-4 win against American Reilly Opelka.

The Argentine, playing his first tournament since breaking his kneecap at October’s Shanghai Masters, held serve to love in the final game to wrap up victory in one hour 13 minutes.

The 30-year-old will face American Mackenzie McDonald in the last eight.

Fourth seed Steve Johnson of the USA beat Italian Paolo Lorenzi 7-5 7-5.

He will meet Radu Albot in Friday’s quarter-finals after the Moldovan beat Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 6-2 3-6 6-3.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Dan Evans takes on sixth seed Andreas Seppi of Italy, while American second seed John Isner faced France’s Adrian Mannarino.

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

World number two Simona Halep was knocked out of the Dubai Championships as Swiss youngster Belinda Bencic again showed fight and resilience to reach the semi-finals.

Bencic, who saved six match points before beating Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round, won 4-6 6-4 6-2.

Halep, 27, struggled with her service game and was broken seven times.

Bencic, 21, missed two match points before claiming her third when the Romanian hit a forehand long.

The world number 45 goes on to play Ukraine’s defending champion Elina Svitolina or Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, who meet later on Thursday, in the last four.

French Open champion Halep, who is still without a full-time coach after splitting with Australian Darren Cahill last year, was made to pay for missed opportunities in the second set.

After failing to convert a break point to go 3-1 ahead, and another in an eight-minute game for a 4-2 lead, the former world number one lost concentration in the ninth as Bencic broke to love and served out easily for the second set.

That allowed Bencic to continue to grow in confidence, taking control of the points as she won six games in a row to lead 3-0 in the decider.

She regained her double break for a 5-2 advantage and, after a touch of nerves as Halep provided resistance, closed out victory in two hours and 19 minutes.

Earlier, Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova reached the semi-finals with a comfortable win over Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova.

The two-time Wimbledon champion, seeded second, cruised to a 6-4 6-0 victory, setting up a last-four match against Chinese Taipei’s Hsieh Su-Wei.

The 33-year-old Taiwanese, who beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the previous round, took another notable scalp by beating Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova.

• Live scores, schedule and results
• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone