Defending champion Simona Halep lost her first match at the Madrid Open in three years on Thursday as Karolina Pliskova produced an inspired performance to reach the semi-finals. Halep had won the title here both in 2016 and 2017 but the world number one struggled to impose her baseline game against the power of Pliskova, who won 6-4, 6-3. Pliskova will now face either two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or Russian up-and-comer Daria Kasatkina for a place in Saturday's final. Halep will still be among the favouries later this month at the French Open, where she has twice finished runner-up, but 26 unforced errors marked the Romanian's error-strewn display.