Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska moved within one win of securing a place at the WTA Finals after thrashing Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Tianjin Open on Saturday.
Radwanska will take on Danka Kovinic in Sunday’s showpiece after the Montenegrin reached her first WTA final by beating Bojana Jovanovski 6-4, 6-7 (7/2), 6-2 in the second semi-final.
World No 6 Radwanska can join Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova in securing places in the eight woman WTA Finals field by winning her second title of the year and 16th of her career on Sunday.
The WTA Finals begin in Singapore on October 25.
The semi final matches were played in extremely poor air quality, with government data showing levels of PM2.5 particulates – small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs – nearly eight times the maximum recommended by the World Health Organization in a 24-hour period.
The $500,000 (Dh1.8m) WTA tournament has seen a run of upsets, the most spectacular when Italian top seed Flavia Pennetta, who won the US Open last month, went out to a player ranked more than 400 places below her, Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok.
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