By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, October 27, 2017
Simona Halep’s mission was simple: Win and she would be in the Singapore semifinals.
Elina Svitolina had no shot to reach the final four and played pressure-free tennis denying the world No. 1’s quest.
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Playing spirited defense and shrewd combinations, Svitolina swept Halep right out of Singapore, 6-3, 6-4, propelling Caroline Garcia into the final four of the WTA Finals.
The defeat could cost Halep her world No. 1 ranking.
If Karolina Pliskova takes the title on Sunday, she will supplant the two-time French Open finalist as world No. 1.
Earlier, Garcia rallied for an 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Caroline Wozniacki then waited for the outcome of the Svitolina vs. Halep final round-robin match to learn her fate.
"The first set she was playing amazing and I was a little bit down, not believing enough and she gave me nothing," said Garcia, who posted her 13th win in her last 14 matches. "Then at the start of the second set, I felt I had nothing to lose and increased my intensity and was able to find my rhythm and finish well."
By virtue of Svitolina’s straight-sets win, Garcia won the Red Group advancing to tomorrow’s semifinals alongside Wozniacki, who also finished round-robin play with a 2-1 record.
Former No. 1 Wozniacki will play White Group winner Pliskova in tomorrow’s first semifinal followed by the eight-seeded Garcia against 37-year-old Venus Williams in the second semifinal.
The top-seeded Halep fell in the round-robin stage of the season-ending event for the third straight year.
Following her three-set loss to Garcia on Wednesday, Svitolina castigated herself for playing “completely brainless” tennis. Today, the first Ukrainian woman to reach the WTA Finals played with clarity and purpose from the first ball.
“It wasn’t the best week for me,” Svitolina told Andrew Krasny afterward. “It was the last match of the season. I was playing very free. It was a good match for me. I’m very very happy I could finish Singapore with a win.”
The WTA leader with five tournament titles avenged a painful French Open loss to Halep.
In June, Halep denied a match point in the tie break roaring back to win 11 of the last 12 games stunning Svitolina, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0, to surge into her second Roland Garros semifinal in the last three years.
In today’s rematch, Svitolina smacked a forehand return down the line breaking for 2-0.
A willingness to stand her ground and trade shots in lengthy baseline exchanges served Svitolina well. She won a 27-shot rally then cranked a smash extending the lead to 3-0.
Halep began to find her range on serve sealing successive love holds for 3-5.
Undaunted, Svitolina rallied from 15-30 down converting her second set point to seal the 31-minute opener. Though Halep doubled her opponent’s winner output—10 to 5—Svitolina played with more precision and purpose on key points.
Following her round-robin loss to Garcia on Wednesday, Svitolina said she had “no expectations” for the rest of her WTA Finals debut.
That mind-set actually seemed to liberate the Ukrainian, who swung much more freely than Halep.
Tension haunted Halep in the seventh game. Charging forward, she had an open patch of court ahead but tried to squeeze a swing volley behind her opponent finding net instead to face break point. Halep pasted another forehand into net dropping serve at 30 as Svitolina broke for 4-3.
Continuing to play patient crosscourt combinations, Svitolina consolidated when Halep buried a backhand down the line into net.
A fine stretch volley helped Halep hold for 4-5 forcing Svitolina to serve for her first win of the week.
Cornering Halep on the forehand size, Svitolina stung a backhand winner crosscourt for match point. When Halep flagged a forehand into net, Svitolina snatched a 70-minute victory.