By Angelica Medina; Reuters.
World number three Mirra Andreeva booked her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals with a 6-4 6-0 win over Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday, while Elina Svitolina battled back to beat Karolina Muchova and keep her hopes alive.
Andreeva, the 19-year-old French Open champion, won her second straight Group 2 match and advanced as group winner after Svitolina earlier defeated Muchova 3-6 6-2 6-2.
The result eliminated Muchova from semi-final contention, while Svitolina will face Sabalenka in Friday’s final group match with the remaining place in the last four at stake.
Sabalenka, the world number two and US Open runner-up, made the stronger start and broke Andreeva in the fourth game of a closely fought opening set to move 3-1 ahead.
Andreeva responded immediately, however, winning three consecutive games to draw level at 4-4 before breaking Sabalenka again and serving out the set.
The Russian maintained the momentum in the second set, capitalising on Sabalenka’s errors to break early and race into a 3-0 lead.
Andreeva did not allow Sabalenka another game, sealing a dominant victory on her WTA Finals debut, in just 62 minutes, netting 16 winners and making only six unforced errors.
“I’m even happier than I was after my first match. I feel like I could play another two matches. I’m so full of energy. I’m so pumped up. I’m so happy,” Andreeva said.
Earlier, Svitolina recovered from a set down to overcome Muchova in their third consecutive meeting to go the distance.
Both players had lost their opening matches in straight sets, but Muchova edged a competitive first set before Svitolina raised her level.
The Ukrainian broke twice in the second set and served it out to force a decider, before carrying that momentum into the final set with another two breaks of serve.
“I got a bit angry at myself. I tried to hit the ball. Tried to let everything out. Happy I could win those two sets and get a win here. I didn’t really expect it to be fair,” Svitolina said.
“It means the world to me (to be here). At the beginning of the year I tried to set a goal for myself to finish here… For me it’s just an amazing thing. After pregnancy, surgery, injuries on the way, it wasn’t easy. I’m very pleased and really proud of the effort,” added the 32-year-old, who won the WTA Finals in 2018.