By Chris Oddo | Friday January 6, 2017
France's Alize Cornet has reached the Brisbane final after Garbine Muguruza pulls out with a thigh injury.
Photo Source: Brisbane Tennis
Garbiñe Muguruza was forced to cut today’s first WTA semifinal in Brisbane short when she pulled out while trailing 4-1 in the first set against Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet.
Muguruza said the reasons for her withdrawal were more precautionary than anything that would force her to miss the Australian Open.
Cornet, who has now notched back-to-back Top 10 wins after defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinals, will face Karolina Pliskova in the final. The Czech won 27 of 28 first-serve points and took out Elina Svitolina in Friday's second semifinal, 6-2, 6-4. World No.6 Pliskova improves to 5-0 vs. Svitolina, but is 0-1 lifetime against Cornet.
Cornet won for the first time in three tries against Muguruza.
The Frenchwoman said that she noticed Muguruza was struggling and tried to keep her on the move during their brief time on court. “I showed her that I wouldn’t let go a single point, that I would be on her back the whole match,” said Cornet.