The final round of robin matches were to be played in Zhuhai for the Hengqin Life WTA Elite Trophy, with three semi finalists to join Julia Goerges in the final four.
ORCHID GROUP
Caroline Garcia (8) defeated Aryna Sabalenka (3)
With her victory, Garcia finished with a win and a loss in her group, as did Ash Barty and Aryna Sabalenka. If Garcia had won in straight sets, and held Sabalenka to less than seven games, she would have advanced to the semi finals. Since she failed to achieve this, Ash Barty is the semi finalist from the group, based on games won/lost:
Barty - 20-19
Sabalenka - 20-20
Garcia - 19-20
Couldn’t be any closer.
CAMELLIA GROUP
Anastasija Sevastova (2) v Garbiñe Muguruza (7)
The winner of this match would be the semi finalist from the group, as each had a 1-0 record coming into the battle, and Shuai Wang was 0-2 and eliminated.
In a closely contested first set, Sevastova broke away to a 4-1 lead, before Muguruza fought back, with successful attacks towards the net assisting her revival. Once level at 4-4, the two held serve until a tie break resolved things. Muguruza lost her nerve and Sevastova led 7-6(4).
Muguruza was a changed player in set two, producing all the shots from her bag of tricks, swing volleys a highlight, and leaving Sevastova with no answers. Five straight games were interrupted by a Latvian awakening at the end but Spain squashed it to level proceedings 6-7(4) 6-2.
Despite apparent issues with her back, requiring some treatment, Sevastova broke Muguruza in the opening game of set three, and led 2-0 with a consolidating hold.
Muguruza broke back, but in the ninth game her poor percentage of points won on first serve (45%) finally caught up with her, and she surrendered the critical game to trail 4-5.
Sevastova served for the match and had three chances, all saved by the Spaniard who eventually broke back and the battle continued.
At this point, 81 winners between the pair, 45 to Muguruza.
Muguruza saved a break point with a slashing passing shot, and held serve to lead 6-5.
Fittingly, a tie break decided the wonderful match, but Sevastova had given all that she could and Garbiñe Muguruza swept through swiftly to win 6-7(4) 6-2 7-6(1). A third semi finalist was now anointed
Garbiñe had 25 journeys to the net, 21 which made her smile, and her 49 winners outweighed the 40 unforced errors to illustrate what a great part she played in entertaining the crowd.
Anastasija Sevastova lost the match, but her tennis came from the same top drawer as did Garbiñe’s, and she could easily have been the winner had the ball bounced a couple of times differently.
No comments:
Post a Comment