Radwanska makes Finals semis
Print Edition
DEFENDING champion Agnieszka Radwanska took the final spot in the semifinals of the WTA Finals, beating Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-3 last night.
Radwanska, who finished 2-1 in the round robin, will play top-seeded Angelique Kerber in today’s semifinals. Kerber won the Australian Open and the US Open this season, and reached the Wimbledon final.
“I think I really have nothing to lose at the moment, especially (since) I’m going to play the best player of the season,” the Pole said of the top-ranked German. “She’s played incredible tennis this year.”
Earlier, Svetlana Kuznetsova earned first place in the White Group despite losing to French Open champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-3, 0-6, 1-6.
The Russian will next play Dominika Cibulkova, who reached the semifinals despite finishing 1-2.
Pliskova offered Radwanska too many free points, making 29 unforced errors to only eight for the Pole.
Radwanska initially trailed 2-4 in the first set, but she soon recovered to 4-4.
In the second set, Radwanska scored the final service break in the eighth game when Pliskova netted two consecutive overheads.
After compiling identical 1-1 records in their first two round robin matches, both losing to Kuznetsova but beating Muguruza, last night’s contest was a winner-takes-all affair and Radwanska kept her composure on the key points to advance.
The defending champion came into the contest with a 6-0 record against the powerful Czech and maintained her dominance over last month’s losing US Open finalist to reach the semifinals of the event for the third year in a row.
Kuznetsova managed to win the first set against Muguruza, but looked fatigued after that.
“Definitely, you don’t want to lose the match,” said Kuznetsova, the last player to qualify for the season-ending elite eight-player tournament in Singapore. “You try to fight. Sometimes the lack of energy just won’t let you do that.”
It was Muguruza’s only win.
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