Stephens, Svitolina set up WTA title showdown
Federer made to sweat by Simon before making semi-finals in Basel
Sloane Stephens and Elina Svitolina enjoyed contrasting three-set victories on Saturday to set up a fascinating WTA Finals title showdown between the only undefeated women at the eight-player season-ending tournament.
Stephens remarkably lost the first eight games of her semifinal against a relentless Karolina Pliskova before the athletic American turned the contest on its head in the second set to emerge with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-1 triumph over the Czech.
“I came out a little nervous and wasn’t quite feeling the ball and she was absolutely working me in the beginning,” Stephens said. “I just tried to stay in it, get as many balls back as I could and am really proud of my fight today.”
In the early match, Ukraine’s Svitolina put on a defensive masterclass to stifle the power of Kiki Bertens with a 7-5 6-7(5) 6-4 victory over the Dutchwoman in a gripping encounter that could have gone either way.
Few could have predicted what was to come when Pliskova started her match full of controlled aggression against an erratic Stephens as the Czech rattled through the opening set in 31 minutes.
Pliskova was equally relentless at the start of the second set, breaking again to register an eighth game in a row before Stephens finally got on the scoreboard, roaring as if she had won the match when she broke back.
Buoyed by the avoidance of total humiliation, Stephens appeared reborn and reeled off five of the next seven games to tie up the match as Pliskova struggled to maintain the pace.
Baseline slugfest
The final set started as a baseline slugfest with both players struggling to hold, until Stephens showed the kind of scintillating form that carried her to the 2017 US Open title to ease away for a memorable come-from-behind victory.
In Basel, Switzerland, Roger Federer was stretched to the limit by Gilles Simon before overcoming the valiant Frenchman 7-6(1) 4-6 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of his hometown Swiss Indoors tournament on Friday. The Swiss needed 2-1/2 hours to finally break his opponent’s resistance.