The Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, 32-year-old Kivitova overcame a sluggish start and 10 double faults to beat Madison Keys 6-7(8-6) 6-4 6-3 in her semi-final.

A former world top-four player, 28-year-old Frenchwoman Garcia became the first qualifier to reach the final of a WTA 1000 tournament when she saw off sixth-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 4-6 6-1 in their rain-interrupted semi.

Since battling her way through qualifying, 28-year-old Garcia has notched wins over three top-10 opponents, Maria Sakkari (4), Sabalenka (7) and Jessica Pegula (8).

Kvitova is set to return to the top 20 in the rankings on Monday after overcoming Keys, the 2019 Cincinnati champion, in a torrid battle.

"I expected it to be tough but I didn't expect it to be that tough," said Kvitova. "I don't really care about the ranking.

"Being in the final is of course more important, that is why I play tennis to be in the final and fight for the trophy."

Garcia, who leads the WTA Tour in aces, has played Kvitova nine times for four wins.

"No one expected it, that's for sure," Garcia said of her appearance in the final.

"It's a long way to come from (qualifiers). It's one match at a time. Try to take the best from every match and improve through the tournament."

"She (Kvitova) is a great champion," Garcia said. "You have to play faster and move better on court against a player like this. It's a great challenge for me to play against Petra."

Australian Associated Press