WTA Finals: Final!

Venus Williams is in the final of the WTA Finals. She won against debutante Caroline Garcia 6:7 (3), 6:2,6:3 and will meet Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday.

By Florian Goosmann from Singapore

“When I get through, I’ll be first?” – “Yeah.” – “Okay, why wouldn’t I be first?”

Caroline Garcia smiled after her victory over Caroline Wozniacki on Friday. Too much was theory: she sat in the press conference and couldn’t do more than wait. If Simona won Halep, Garcia would have to go home. If Elina Svitolina were to win, she would be the first in the group.

It’s so funny to talk about a match that maybe there won’t be any,”said Garcia, laughing,” I wouldn’t be the more aggressive player on the pitch, it was different in the last three matches. It would be interesting.”

And that’s what it was. Because Garcia played quite aggressively and didn’t let herself get upset by a missed chance on three set points at 5:4. In the tiebreak Williams made two double mistakes in a row, but Garcia secured the 7-3 set win with her own powerful and variable game – especially on the forehand – and widely accepted returns, with which she repeatedly annoyed Williams. The winning record until then: 17 to 14 – for Garcia.

In the second set Williams moved early on to 3-0. Garcia stayed on, but couldn’t make use of her three break chances and had to accept another break to equalize the set. Williams in particular reduced her mistakes: from 18 in first set to only 5 in second set.

In the decisive round, both women tried to set the pace first. Williams finally managed to break 5-3 and then, after a 4-0 deficit of 0-40, scored five points in a row to win.

In the final against Caroline Wozniacki, the 37-year-old will play for her second WTA finals title after 2008.