Great Britain’s Tara Moore is determined to build on her impressive run at the Aegon Open Nottingham but couldn’t quite book a place in Sunday’s final.

The British No.4 stormed through qualifying, having also reached the final at the ITF Eastbourne trophy on grass last week, and defied her ranking to reach a maiden WTA level quarter-final.

However the world No.280’s progress was halted by China’s Saisai Zheng in the last eight.

“I’m obviously really happy with my level and results this week. It’s been a good run for me the last few weeks which will improve my ranking a lot. Hopefully it can continue,” reflected Moore.

“I’ve been playing a lot of matches recently, it’s tough, I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on my body the last fortnight. Body maintenance will be really important in the next few weeks, it’s a long stretch on the grass court series and I just think I’ve fixed a lot of things but you’re always looking to better yourself.”

It was a packed day of action in Nottingham due to a complete washout from thunderstorms on Friday with all quarter-finals and semi-finals on the schedule.

Despite dismissing world No.67 Christina McHale with relative ease on Thursday, Moore was presented with a tough task on centre court having surrendered serve at the first ask.

Having stifled any threat to clasp the first set, Zheng commanded the baseline duels and had Moore continually chasing the game. The qualifier also had to contend with a forearm injury as the Chinese world No.86 wrapped up a 6-2, 6-4 triumph.

“I came out and I felt pretty good having had a great tournament leading into it. I’m pretty disappointed I couldn’t replicate it, I could have played better but Zheng played really well, didn’t miss much and deserved the victory.

The No.1 seed Karolina Pliskova illustrated her top 20 credentials with two straight sets victories.

The Czech managed to prevail 7-6(2), 7-6 (7) over Australian Ashleigh Barty before a quick physio session, food and rest fuelled an emphatic 6-2, 6-2 win against fourth seed Monica Puig to earn a spot in Sunday’s showpiece.

“It was definitely my best match here this tournament. I felt pretty good out there but I expected that after the first match where I didn’t feel it very well. I wasn’t happy with myself with how I played against Ashleigh (Barty) and the only good thing in that match from my side was my serve,” declared the 24-year-old.

“The second match was much better and I’m so happy with the way I played. Monica (Puig) is dangerous and played great tennis all week and was better than the score today.“

Pliskova will start the final having dropped just one set all week, hoping to add a fifth WTA title to her collection. “Any title is nice for me. I had a tough day today, I haven’t had to play two matches in years, but now I’m looking forward to the final. Even If I don’t get the trophy I think it has been a great week on the grass.”

American Alison Riske mirrored Pliskova to strike two wins on Saturday on route to a second WTA final of 2016.

The world No.89 resumed her quarter-final with Anett Kontaveit at 5-3 to rapidly head back to the locker room 6-3, 6-3.

Riske was the victor at Nottingham last year when the 25-year-old took on semi-final opponent Zheng and replicated that success on centre court.

“I’m excited. The first one was quick as I knew it had to be if I wanted to play a second one. Both Kontaveit and Zheng are really tough I had to fight until the end,” said Riske.

“I just really enjoy being on the grass, I feel at home on these courts. I feel like I’ve being playing well in the lead up to the grass season as well. I haven’t had the same success on the clay but I still had good wins leading up to Roland Garros, so I’ve been playing well and hopefully I can take it through to Wimbledon.”

Riske fired down 84 percent of first serves to dictate play in a devastating 6-1 first set and looked destined for victory at 5-2.

However Zheng managed to save two match points to haul back the deficit for 5-5.

“She definitely stepped up her game and put more pressure on me,” added the American. “I think ultimately I stepped up to the challenge, I was able to get my game back, take a few deep breaths and realise it’s not the end of the world and I’m really happy the way I ended it.”

Two magnificent backhand passing shots secured the decisive break and at the third time of asking, Riske served out the match 6-1, 7-5 with an ace.

The world No.89 last faced top seed Pliskova in 2013 but knows the Czech represents an extremely tricky challenge in the final.

“She’s obviously at the top of her game. I’m just going to look to play my game and put as much pressure on her as I can. I’m just looking forward until the final.”

Meanwhile Barty, who returned to the game in February following an 18 month voluntary absence, is buoyed by her standard of play in Nottingham which culminated in pushing the world No.17 to two tie-breaks.

“Absolutely, I had enough chances in the first and second set. It’s disappointing not to convert but Karolina played the big points pretty well. I didn’t do a whole lot wrong until the second set buster!”

“It’s nice to know that straight off the bat I can come in and compete with some of the best in the world,” reflected the 20-year-old. “This week has just been a massive bonus for us, being able to get so many matches against such top quality opposition has been really good. It’s been awhile since I’ve played at this level. It’s been a positive week.”

“Definitely taking it match by match but the ranking will take care of itself If I can keep picking up some wins. When you get the wins, that’s a bonus and that all starts from what we are doing on the practice courts. We’ll see where we end up.”