Simona Halep believes positivity can be the key to her hopes of winning this week's Cincinnati Masters.

The Romanian, who was a runner-up in Ohio in 2015, battled past Johanna Konta 6-4 7-6 (7-1) on Friday to book her place in the last four where she will meet Sloane Stevens, after her 6-1 7-6 (7-3) triumph over Julia Gorges.

2017 has been another decent year for Halep and she appears to be shaping up well ahead of the final Grand Slam event, the US Open.

The world number two admits she was pushed hard on Friday but believes the positive tactics she displayed against Konta can be key to her hopes of success.

"I didn't wait, like, the mistake or something like this," he said. "I just took it. I knew she could stay there. She's very strong. I said that if I feel my legs, I'm stronger, so I have just to be there and to push her back and to hit the balls.

"I just have, in my opinion, to be like today with the desire of winning with confidence and positive things. I can't do anything else - just go there and play my best, trying to play my best."

In the other half of the draw, world number one Karolina Pliskova beat Camilla Giorgi 6-3 4-6 6-0 and will now face Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 5-7 7-5.