SINGAPORE (AP) - Caroline Garcia advanced to the semifinals at the WTA Finals on Friday when top-ranked Simona Halep was beaten by Elina Svitolina.
Garcia defeated Caroline Wozniacki 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the early Red Group match, giving both 2-1 records. Wozniacki had already advanced, but Garcia had to wait. When Svitolina beat Halep 6-3, 6-4 later in the day, the top-ranked Romanian was eliminated and Garcia was through as the group winner.
In the semifinals, Garcia will play Venus Williams and Wozniacki will face Karolina Pliskova.
Garcia, playing at a career-high No. 8 ranking after winning back-to-back titles in Wuhan and Beijing, is the only one of the eight-players who didn’t have a chance to end the season with the top ranking.
“It was kind of weird, actually, to be here,” Garcia said. “I qualified last minute, two weeks before. I really wanted to keep improving, play every single match and get experience.
“That’s why I think I won these (last) two matches.”
Despite not reaching the semifinals, Halep will retain the No. 1 ranking unless Pliskova wins the title, which would make her the year-end No. 1.
“This system (round-robin) I don’t like,” Halep said. “You stay like stressed all week. If you lose, of course, you have another chance. I just want it to be if you lose you go home.”
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