Simona Halep is out of the WTA Finals in Singapore after losing to Elina Svitolina in the last round-robin match
Friday 27 October 2017 14:45, UK
Caroline Garcia progressed to the WTA semi-finals in Singapore after she overcame Caroline Wozniacki in a comeback three-set victory and benefited from Elina Svitolina's win over world No 1 Simona Halep.
The world No 8 suffered a torrid opening set against Wozniacki but fought back to clinch an impressive 0-6 6-3 7-5 success over her Danish opponent in two hours and 19 minutes.
Garcia faced elimination from the season finale when two points away from defeat in the third set but showed character to recover and close out the match.
Wozniacki, who had won her opening two round robin matches, started the better of the pair to deliver a bagel set in the opener in a mere 22 minutes.
The in-form French player only managed to claim seven points in the first set as Wozniacki, 27, dominated behind her serve winning every point on her first serve but Garcia soon regained her composure in the encounter.
Wozniacki, in apparent control of proceedings, received a time violation which led to an argument with the umpire during the third game of the second set. This incident seemed to fire Garcia into life and the 24-year-old claimed four unanswered games on her way to levelling the match.
However, Garcia handed a break advantage to the WTA Finals 2010 runner-up in the third game of the decider.
Wozniacki, already assured of a semi-final spot, served for the match at 5-4 but Garcia recovered from the brink to force the break before winning the last two games of the match.
"She was playing amazing in the first set, I was a little down," Garcia reflected after the match. "Finally I found my rhythm but like the previous match it was up and down but I finished well."
However, Garcia was indebted to Svitolina's performance against Halep in order to claim her semi-final spot as the world No 4 finished her season on a winning note.
Svitolina's 6-3 6-4 victory in one hour and 10 minutes saw Garcia leapfrog Wozniacki into top place in the Red Group.
Svitolina, who lost both her opening round-robin matches, secured two early breaks to move 4-1 ahead in the opener and maintained her control to serve out for the first set.
The second set saw Halep, who suffered elimination in the round robin stage for the third straight season, make the fast start this time around breaking Svitolina's opening service game only to hand the advantage immediately back.
Both players then managed to hold serve until the seventh game of the second set which enabled Svitolina to move 4-3 ahead before holding her nerve to close out the match.
Garcia will face Venus Williams, who finished second out of the White Group, in the semi-finals, while the group's winner, Karolina Pliskova, will face Wozniacki.
Following the round-robin stage only world No 3 Pliskova can overtake Halep for the year-end No 1 ranking - should the Czech player win the Singapore title.
Sky Sports will have all the action from the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and Swiss Indoors Basel before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza ATP 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...
