Kerber, Cibulkoba reach semis
Radwanska, Pliskova to fight for only remaining last- 4 spot
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 round- robin phase.
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 ( 7/ 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 she made it through when everything she hoped for went according 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 situa- tion and the pressure.”
Cibulkova will play Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday’s semis after the Russian finished top of the White Group. Kerber will meet with either the defending champion, Agnieszka Radwanska, or US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, who meet Friday to decide the last available spot.
Both Keys and Halep would have advanced ahead of Cibulkova if either could have won a set on Thursday but both women were outplayed by their opponents.
The big- hitting Keys had her serve broken six times by Kerber and contributed to her own downfall with 31 unforced errors.
Halep, a runner- up at the elite eight- player event two years ago, was philosophical about her defeat, saying she was pleased just to make the tournament after a slow start to the year. “This tournament was a bonus for me,” she said. “I gave it everything I had. I didn’t have enough to qualify in the semis, but it was a good experience again, my third year in a row, so it’s a good thing.”