Venus Williams revives her campaign after epic win
Wednesday 25 October 2017 08:36, UK
Karolina Pliskova booked her spot in the last four of the WTA Finals after overwhelming Garbine Muguruza in a straight-sets demolition.
World No 3 Pliskova continued her stranglehold over Muguruza with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 victory in just 62 minutes.
It was her seventh victory from nine starts over the Spaniard, who appeared hampered by an upper leg injury, which required strapping early in the match.
Pliskova continued her momentum with an early break against the world No 2, before moving into a 3-0 lead and closing out the first set as Muguruza lost serve again.
The second set looked to be heading towards a rapid conclusion as Pliskova - after saving two break chances in her opening service game - coasted into a 5-0 lead.
Muguruza, though, saved three match points to hold serve and then broke back.
However, Pliskova closed out victory in just over an hour when the Spaniard failed to hold as the Czech player reeled off four unanswered points.
"I don't think either of us played that well today as we had to wait so long to get on court but I am happy that I am through," Pliskova said. "I was expecting a tough one so it was good that it was actually easy today."
Pliskova's victory means she will finish top of the White Group and knocks out winless Jelena Ostapenko after the French Open champion lost out to a vintage display from the ageless Venus Williams in a marathon three-hour, three-set epic, 7-5 6-7 (7-3) 7-5.
There were no less than seven breaks of serve in a sporadic opening set, before Latvian Ostapenko, the world No 7, forced a decider following a tie-break after Williams had failed to convert a match point chance.
Both players, though, continued to struggle to hold serve in set three, which the American number five seed eventually secured after one hour and 10 minutes.
"Sometimes you need some luck. I don't know if I had any tonight as I had to work for every point," Williams said in a courtside interview. "It's not easy when you lose the first match. Both of us were in the same situation and you have to fight, what else can you do, to live another day."
Muguruza and Williams will fight for the last semi-finals spot from the White Group when they clash on Thursday.
Sky Sports has all the action from the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and Swiss Indoors Basel this week before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website sky.mnosports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the World Tour Finals this year? Have your say...
