Serena Williams will get a chance to avenge a humiliating loss against Simona Halep after they both advanced to the championship match of the season-ending WTA Finals with victories in contrasting style on Saturday.
Williams beat Caroline Wozniacki in a thrilling contest 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) to remain on course for a third-straight title, while Halep swept aside Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 to put herself in a position for the biggest title of her career.
Halep beat Williams 6-0, 6-2 in the group stage, inflicting the American’s heaviest loss in 16 years.
Wozniacki served for the match at 5-4 in the third set, but Williams broke back and prevailed in the tiebreaker after trailing 4-1.
Williams now boasts a 10-1 career record against Wozniacki.
Williams made a slow start, taking only three points off Wozniacki’s serve in the opening set and the frustration overwhelmed the American. After the seventh game, she repeatedly smashed her racket into the court, bringing a warning from the chair umpire. Wozniacki, who had a perfect 3-0 record in the group stage, took the opening set in 26 minutes.
Then the momentum shifted and Williams took a grip on the second set, which ended on Wozniacki’s double fault. In the third set Wozniacki got the first break in the ninth game. She served for the match, but was broken. Wozniacki started the tiebreaker confidently, but Williams wore her down with powerful serves and groundstrokes to win the match.
Halep won five straight games in the first set to quickly assume a grip on the match that she never relinquished.
The irony of the final is that Williams only qualified for the semifinals because Halep dropped a set in her group match against Ana Ivanovic. Had Halep won that match in straight sets, Ivanovic would have made the semifinals at Williams’ expense.
Sania-Black in final
Sania and Cara Black showed strong nerves as they saved three match points against Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik to cruise into the final. The pair trailed 6-9 but showed amazing resilience to reel off five straight points in a tense situation to clinch the issue 4-6, 7-5, 11-9.