No. 6 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine secured the last semifinal berth at the WTA Finals by defeating second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 on Friday in Indian Wells, Calif.
Svitolina recovered from an early break in the opening set before Sabalenka responded to force a decider. The Ukrainian quickly regained control in the decider, breaking twice to take a 5-1 lead before closing it out on her fourth match point.
“It was an extremely tough match, I think especially mentally,” Svitolina said. “I was just trying to play one point at a time and find, you know, my game, find the fighting spirit until the end.”
Svitolina finished with 21 winners and committed 11 fewer unforced errors in the one-hour, 53-minute match.
The victory snapped Svitolina’s five-match losing streak against Sabalenka and improved her career record against the Belarusian to 2-6. Her only previous win came on clay at Strasbourg in 2020.
“I think the movement was pretty good today, and for me this was, I think, the key,” Svitolina said.
Svitolina finished second in Group 2 at 2-1 and will face eighth-seeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in Saturday’s semifinals.
Third-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia completed a perfect 3-0 run through the group earlier Friday by routing fellow Russian Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-1. Shnaider was a late replacement for No. 7 Karolina Muchova after the Czech withdrew because of an illness. Muchova had already been eliminated after losing her first two round-robin matches.
“Unfortunately, I have to withdraw from today’s match due to gastrointestinal issues,” Muchova said in a statement. “It’s not how I wanted to end my season, but there’s a lot to be proud of and I’m already looking forward to next year.”
Shnaider broke Andreeva to open the match and took a 2-0 lead before Andreeva seized control, winning 12 of the final 13 games. The 19-year-old converted six of seven break opportunities and needed only 55 minutes to complete the victory.
“I don’t know how fun that was. It’s nice to share a court with your friend,” Andreeva said of facing Shnaider. “It’s more nerve-wracking for me personally because I know her well.”
Andreeva dropped just 11 games in six sets during round-robin play, beating Svitolina and Sabalenka before dispatching Shnaider. She will face American Jessica Pegula in the other semifinal Saturday.
Sabalenka finished Group 2 at 1-2, while Muchova and Shnaider combined to go 0-3 in the fourth position.
–Field Level Media
