Angelique Kerber was presented with the end-of-year trophy as the world’s No 1 player after all but booking her place in the knockout stage of the WTA Finals with a clinical 6-4 6-2 win over Romania’s Simona Halep.
Kerber, 28, was already assured of finishing 2016 at the top of the rankings after Serena Williams withdrew from the WTA Finals with a shoulder injury but it was officially recognised when she was handed the trophy and a sparkling Tiffany ring.
Kerber, looking sharper and more focused than she was in her opening round-robin victory over Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, was all smiles after she posted a surprisingly lop-sided victory over the combative Halep, who had looked in ominous touch during her opening match win over American Madison Keys.
“I was feeling very well today. I think that I was moving good and I was going for it when I had the chance. I think that was the key,” Kerber said.
“For me, I think it’s always good when I start a tournament with tight and close matches where I get my confidence.”
A finalist at the end-of-season championship two years ago, Halep was brimming with confidence ahead of her clash with Kerber but found the left-hander too good on Singapore’s slow indoor hardcourts.
“I had the opportunity to get that first set. I was coming back very well. But, maybe I didn’t finish the important points,” Halep said.
“But she played a great tennis. She’s very strong and on her legs she’s moving great. She deserved to win.”
Despite winning her first two matches, Kerber still has a mathematical chance of missing out on the semi-finals of the elite $7 million (Dh25.7m) tournament after Keys beat Cibulkova 6-1 6-4 in Tuesday’s other Red Group match.
“That was a little bit better than the first round,” Keys said. “I’m definitely really happy with how I kind of turned things around.”
Although she has lost her two opening matches, Cibulkova still has a chance of advancing if she beats Halep in their final group match on Thursday.
“It’s frustrating of course because I lost two matches that I wished I could win, but I still have a third chance,” Cibulkova said.
“It’s a big challenge for me. It’s my first time playing here. But I can still go into the semi-finals.”
Svetlana Kuznetsova, showing no signs of giving up despite the gruelling schedule she has endured in the past week, produced another thrilling comeback to win her second straight match at the WTA Finals on Wednesday.
Just two days after she saved a match point in defeating the defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, Kuznetsova again rallied back from the brink of defeat to beat US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) in a heart-stopping encounter at Singapore’s Indoor Stadium.
“I felt the support of the crowd and I couldn’t let anyone down. So I had to fight,” Kuznetsova said in a courtside interview.
“[It was] my heart. I just love. I’ve not been at my best my past years. Something changed this year and I’m just enjoying my game.”
Pliskova, who saved a match point in her opening match win against Garbine Muguruza, looked set for another big comeback win of her own when she recovered from 4-1 down in the deciding third set to lead 6-5.
But Pliskova was unable to serve out the match as the relentless Kuznetsova recorded the eighth break of a nerve-jangling final set.
The 24-year-old Czech, seven years younger than Kuznetsova, saved three successive match points to draw level at 6-6 in the tiebreaker, but the more experienced Russian held her nerve and won the next two points to seal a remarkable victory – this time, without having to cut her own hair mid-match, which she did in her win over Radwanska.
Kuznetsova had already defied the odds just to get to Singapore for the prestigious end-of-season championship, only sneaking into the elite eight-player field after winning the Kremlin Cup in Moscow on Saturday.
She hopped straight on a plane, made the long flight to Southeast Asia to take her place in the tournament and was already exhausted when she arrived but is now on the verge of reaching the semi-finals.
Muguruza was due to play Radwanska in Wednesday’s late night White Group match. If Radwanska wins, Kuznetsova will advance to the semi-finals regardless of how she performs in her last group match on Friday.
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