Barty, Bencic join Svitolina in semis of the WTA Finals
World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty clinched pole position in the Red Group after defeating Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-2 at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen last night.
The French Open champion was joined in the semi-finals by Belinda Bencic, who led 7-5, 1-0 against late replacement Kiki Bertens before the latter pulled out with an injury.
Barty, who had already sealed the year-end No. 1 ranking, rebounded after a three-set loss to Bertens on Tuesday.
She said: "I knew I had to play aggressively. I'm really excited to still have another chance to play here."
In tonight's Purple Group matches, Simona Halep takes on Karolina Pliskova, with the winner going though to the semi-finals along with defending champion Elina Svitolina.
Bianca Andreescu has withdrawn from the group due to a knee injury.
At the Paris Masters, Alexander Zverev qualified for next month's ATP Finals after Matteo Berrettini lost 6-4, 6-3 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Novak Djokovic edged out Corentin Moutet 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, while Rafael Nadal also advanced to the third round by beating Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-4.
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