Kontaveit, ranked 27th in the world, had been 5:3 up after the penultimate game of her day's play, after breaking Giorgi's serve earlier in the set. However, the Italian, ranked 75th worldwide, returned the favor by breaking Kontaveit's serve, in what turned out to be the final act of the encounter.

Giorgi has pulled out of games due to injury multiple times in the past, most recently early on this year in the Yarra Valley Classic in Australia, though she also overcame former world number one Karolína Plíškova en route to the Eastbourne semis. Kontaveit herself had to pull out of last September's French Open doubles as a result of a shoulder problem.

Kontaveit will meet Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia, WTA 54th), who overcame Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) in straight sets, 6:4, 6:1 in her semi-final later on Friday.

Kontaveit has reached the finals of WTA tournaments seven times in her career so far, winning just the once, in 2017.

Eastbourne is effectively the warm-up women's tournament for the Wimbledon Championships, which start next Monday. Kontaveit faces Czech player Marketa Vondroušova in round one of that competition.

This article was updated to note Jelena Ostapenko would be Kontaveit's opponent in Saturday's final at Eastbourne.

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