Karolina Pliskova is well on her way to Singapore. The Czech made it to the semi-finals in Tianjin, while Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka were the finalists in the quarter-finals.
Sabalenka’s two-set defeat against Timea Bacsinszky means that she can no longer intervene in the battle for the Singapore tickets. Sloane Stephens, who will play next week in Moscow thanks to a wildcard, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova have very good chances of qualifying.
The trio is currently followed by Kiki Bertens, Aryna Sabalenka, Anastasija Sevastova and Elise Mertens. Only the Dutch Bertens still have a chance to participate in Singapore. After her last sixteen finish in Linz, however, the 26-year-old must achieve a very good result at the tournament in Moscow in order to maintain her chance of qualifying.
Pliskova, who was only ten points ahead of Bertens this week, were able to extend their lead thanks to the semi-final. Her 5:7, 6:3 and 6:0 against Katie Boulter meant the semi-final entry at the event in Tianjin and thus extremely valuable points for the “Race to Singapore”. In the semi-finals, the Czech will face Sabalenka conqueror Bacsinszky.
However, Elina Svitolina, who is also fighting for her Singapore ticket, does not look well at the tournament in Hong Kong. The Ukrainian was 2:6 and 2:5 (double break) behind Qiang Wang before the match was postponed to the next day due to the persistent rain.
The tableau in Tianjin
The Tableau in Hong Kong