World No.1 Ashleigh Barty overcame the hitting power of Karolina Pliskova with a comeback victory on Saturday to set up a mouth-watering WTA Finals decider against defending champion Elina Svitolina.
The French Open champion prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 53 minutes in a matchup of the top two ranked players in the world.
Barty, playing in her WTA Finals debut, will look to cap off a momentous season when she plays Svitolina in Sunday’s final.
Ukraine’s Svitolina won her 10th straight WTA Finals match with a 5-7, 6-3, 4-1 victory over a hobbled Belinda Bencic in one hour and 50 minutes.
The Swiss struggled with cramping from late in the first set but gamely fought on before retiring hurt.
The results: Semifinals: Elina Svitolina bt Belinda Bencic 5-7, 6-3, 4-1 retd.; Ashleigh Barty bt Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 .
