Radwanska Beats Pliskova To Claim Final Singapore Semifinal Spot

Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska continued her domination over Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, beating the U.S. Open finalist 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Radwanska, last year’s champion in Singapore, has now won all seven meetings against Pliskova in straight sets, winning all 14 sets against the big-serving Czech in her career.

With both players splitting their first two matches in Singapore, the winner of Friday’s final round-robin match would qualify for the final four.

And it was Pliskova who jumped out to the early lead, notching the match’s first break for a 4-2 lead in the opening set. But the crafty Radwanska fought back and dug in on Pliskova’s service games, rattling off five of the next six games to steal the first set.

Pliskova would once again take the advantage in the second set, jumping ahead for a 3-2 lead, but her errors let Radwanska back in and the Pole won the final four games to win the match in straight sets and advance.

Radwanska moves into a semifinal matchup with world number one Angelique Kerber, who went undefeated in her three round-robin matches.

Also advancing to the semifinals was Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, despite losing to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza on Friday. Despite being last to qualify for the WTA Finals, Kuznetsova won her first two round-robin matches to become the first player to reach the semifinals.

Muguruza ends her year on a good note with her 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 victory on Friday.

“For sure a victory like today is going to keep me a little bit happier,” said Muguruza. “It was a very tough tournament. I had a match point in my first match, then the second match was tough, but I felt I got my opportunities. [It] was too late, but I still did it.”

Kuznetsova will take on Dominika Cibulkova in the other semifinal matchup.