Kerber, Cibulkova reach semis
Newly-crowned world No 1 claims third win on the trot; Simona Halep sent packing
SINGAPORE: Germany’s Angelique Kerber continued her unbeaten run at the WTA Finals on Thursday, steamrolling rising American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3 to charge into the semifinals of the season-ending championship.
Still on a high after winning the US Open last month, the newly crowned world No 1 made it three wins on the trot at Singapore’s Indoor Stadium to finish at the top of the Red Group standings after the roundrobin phase.
“It’s a great feeling because it’s the first time I’m in the semis at the WTA Finals. That was my first goal,” Kerber said.
“It was important to go out there to win the match and win all three matches, that gives me a lot more confidence.”
CIBULKOVA SCRAPES THROUGH WITH WIN Kerber was joined in the semis by Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, who claimed her first victory of the tournament by defeating Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 7-6(5), to finish as the group runner-up.
Beaten in her first two matches, the 27-year-old Cibulkova needed to see off Halep in straight sets then rely on Kerber defeating Keys in straight sets to advance, but scraped through when everything she needed went to plan.
“This win is really, really big for me,” Cibulkova said. “I feel relieved. I’m really happy about my win, about the way I played and the way I handled the situation and the pressure.
“It seems like I’m playing my best tennis under the biggest pressure. It’s just a great feeling to beat Simona in two sets knowing that if I want to go further in the tournament I have to beat her in two sets. That made me even stronger in the second set.”
Cibulkova will play Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday’s semis after the Russian finished top of the White Group. Kerber will meet either the defending champion, Agnieszka Radwanska, or US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, who meet on Friday to decide the last available spot.
Both Keys and Halep would have advanced ahead of Cibulkova if either had won a set on Thursday but both women were outgunned by their opponents.