WTA Finals: Venus becomes third semifinalist

Venus Williams ensured her place in the WTA semifinals after a hard-fought win over Garbine Muguruza on Thursday night in Singapore.

She joins Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki, who had already sealed their spots in the final four.

The fourth semifinalist will be determined on Friday night, with Simona Halep, Caroline Garcia and Elina Svitolina all still in the hunt.

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Williams gained revenge on Muguruza for her loss to the Spaniard in the Wimbledon final, recovering from 3-1 down in the second set to triumph 7-5 6-4.

The win means she has now reached at least the semifinals in every edition of the WTA Finals she has contested, dating back to 1999 in the event’s Madison Square Garden days in New York.

“The tournament started off as a disaster and could have ended as a disaster today, so I was lucky to get through and I hope I can win again,” Williams said.

“I ran super hard. After the US Open you’re just so tired. I gave everything at the majors. You just take a deep breath and try to keep going.

“I hope my best performance is ahead of me. You can never tell.”

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Muguruza said that despite being eliminated from the tournament, she was proud of her year, during which she won the Wimbledon and Cincinnati titles and peaked at world No.1.

“I knew here (in Singapore) that it’s going to be tough, the best eight players are playing,” she said.

“My year has been incredible and (my) best so far. I improved so many things. That’s what I’m going to take (from here).”

Earlier on Thursday, Jelena Ostapenko smacked Pliskova off the court to record her first win of the tournament.

Pliskova led the White Group with a 2-0 record but was overwhelmed by the Latvian; she finished on top of the group despite the 6-3 6-1 loss.

On Friday, Carolines Wozniacki and Garcia will go head-to-head before Halep faces Svitolina.