By Chris Oddo | Saturday October 13, 2018

 

Karolina Pliskova moved closer to locking down a spot in Singapore by defeating Timea Bacsinszky to reach the Tianjin final.

Photo Source: TW

Karolina Pliskova needed just an hour to earn her fourth consecutive win over Timea Bacsinszky at the Tianjin Open, 6-2, 6-1. The top-seeded wild card dropped just eight points on serve against the Swiss and sets a final with No.2-seeded Caroline Garcia on Sunday.

Garcia took out No.5-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-3, 6-4 in 92 minutes.



Pliskova expanded her lead over ninth-place Kiki Bertens in the Race to Singapore standings to 130 points. The Czech can add 100 to that total with a win in the final which would make it close to impossible for Bertens to pass her next week.

Bertens and Pliskova will both be in the Moscow field next week.

"I know I have a good chance to get to Singapore between this week and next week as well,” Pliskova said, according to WTATennis.com. “I think it was a pretty okay year for me, and if I end it in Singapore, it's going to be amazing for me. It's always a goal...so hopefully, I can end there."



Pliskova owns a 3-2 lifetime edge over Garcia and the Czech is bidding for her third title of 2018 and 12th overall—she has won her last five finals, all in straight sets, since falling in the 2016 U.S. Open title match.