Venus Gets Revenge On Muguruza, Reaches SFs At WTA Finals; Halep-Svitolina Friday

Ageless Venus Williams continued her remarkable year beating Garbine Muguruza 7-5, 6-4 at the WTA Finals in Singapore. The win, which avenged her loss to the Spaniard in the Wimbledon final, moved Williams into the semifinals at the year-end event and sent Muguruza out of the tournament.

“A win is a win, whether it’s like today or yesterday,” Venus said. “I’m pretty used to going home after you lose, so I knew what the stakes were.

Muguruza finished the year winning just one of her last five matches and failed to make a final in her last five events.

“I think she played very good in important moments, and I made few mistakes that I shouldn’t,” said Muguruza. “I was just trying to not get crazy and kind of wait for my opportunity. And it didn’t come. In important moments, she stepped up and turned it around.”

White Group winner Karolina Pliskova failed to finish the round robin undefeated after a 6-3, 6-1 loss to Jelena Ostapenko in a match that had no bearing on the tournament.

“It was my last match here today,” Ostapenko said. “I really tried to enjoy every moment. I think I was playing quite relaxed, and I just showed my best today.”

On Friday, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina and Caroline Garcia all bid for the final semifinal berth. Caroline Wozniacki, who matches up with Garcia, has already earned her spot in last four.

Wozniacki leads Garcia 2-0 while Halep and Svitolina split their four previous meetings. After choking away the French Open quarters, Svitolina rolled Halep 6-1, 6-1 in Canada.

Here are the scenarios:
* Wozniacki will advance to the semifinals. She will win the group unless she falls to Garcia coupled with a Svitolina win, in which case she will be second to Garcia
* Halep will finish second to Wozniacki by winning her match. Halep may also finish second to Wozniacki with a three-set loss coupled with a Wozniacki win
* Garcia will win the group by winning her match coupled with Svitolina winning her match. Wozniacki would be second
* Svitolina will finish second to Wozniacki by winning in straight sets coupled with a Wozniacki win

In the No. 1 race, seven began the week with a shot, it’s now down to five with Ostapenko and Venus out of the running. Pliskova, Svitolina and Wozniacki all must win the title to hold a chance at No. 1 and tracking down Halep. Muguruza is also alive.