Zhuhai, China: Former world number one Garbine Muguruza battled past second seed Anastasija Sevastova to clinch a place in the semifinals of the WTA Elite Trophy in China on Friday.
The two-time Grand Slam winner from Spain won her final round-robin match — effectively a playoff for a semifinal spot — 6-7, 6-2, 7-6.
Sevastova, 22 from Lativa, took a nip-and-tuck first set in Zhuhai after a tie-break, but Muguruza, also 22, comfortably won the second. The decider was a thriller for the fans at the Hengqin International Tennis Center, who witnessed some nailbiting tennis as the players fought toe-to-toe.
But world number 17 Muguruza took control in the final tie-break, producing some fantastic shots to win it 7-1 after over two hours and 45 minutes on court.
She joins Australia’s Ashleigh Barty and Germany’s Julia Goerges in Saturday’s semifinals.
Madison Keys, Daria Kasatkina and Wang Qiang could all still qualify from the last group. Keys will go through if she beats China’s Wang in straight sets later on Friday. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
