Agnieszka Radwanska sets up semi-final clash against Angelique Kerber in WTA Finals
Polish ace cruises to a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova in their final group match
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska stayed patient in the face of a barrage of big serving to advance to the last four of the WTA Finals for the third time in a row with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova on Friday.
The defending champion came into the contest with a 6-0 record against the powerful Czech and maintained her dominance over last month’s losing US Open finalist to set up a mouth-watering semi-final against world number one Angelique Kerber.
Earlier in the day, Garbine Muguruza ended her campaign with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 consolation victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova, who still emerged as the White Group winner and will face Dominika Cibulkova in the other semi-final on Saturday.
After compiling identical 1-1 records in their first two round robin matches, both losing to Kuznetsova but beating Muguruza, Friday’s contest was a winner-takes-all affair and Radwanska kept her composure on the key points to advance.
“It was a very tight match and I was happy I could do my best at the important moments,” said world number three Radwanska, who has won 14 sets without reply against Pliskova.
“You just wait and pray that her first serve isn’t going to be in and take you chances on the second serve. She’s one of the best servers on the tour so I knew it was going to be tough.”