Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and Martina Hingis yesterday crashed out of the semi-finals of the WTA Finals in Singapore, a defeat that brought the Swiss star’s long career to an end.
The top seeds fell to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) defeat to third seeds Timea Babos of Hungary and Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic in one hour, 43 minutes.
The third seeds saved four of five break points and converted two of four, winning 72 of the 141 points contested to advance to today’s final.
Photo: EPA
“It’s disappointing to finish a tournament like this,” Hingis told the WTA Web site at the post-match news conference. “I’m sure we both wished for a better ending and, you know, like winning the trophy. They were just too good today.”
“We had a lot of matches like that that went for us and today it didn’t,” she said. “That’s what happens. This is life. This is tennis. This is the game.”
The Taiwanese-Swiss duo claimed nine titles this season, including the US Open, Chan’s first Grand Slam triumph.
Chan joined Hingis as the joint world No. 1 in the WTA tour doubles rankings on Monday.
“The whole journey, it’s been incredible,” Chan told the WTA Web site. “Today it wasn’t the way that we wanted, but still, we had a great year.”
“She was my idol since I was eight, and to be able to play with her and then have this incredible run, it’s unforgettable,” she said. “Hopefully, I can continue the performance at this level and then also use the things I learned from her.”
Hingis said she does not plan to walk away from tennis altogether.
“It’s not really goodbye. I hope I’ll still be part of the game. We already made plans. I mean, if [Yung-jan] needs me, I can come and be a hitting girl or whatever at some point,” Hingis said.
In the semi-finals of the singles, Caroline Wozniacki stood her ground in the face of some incredible early pressure before pulling away from Karolina Pliskova to eke out a 7-6 (9) 6-3 victory in a captivating showdown.
The victory, completed in four minutes under two hours, was built on the Dane’s resilience, consistency and greater variation on the key points, and put the 27-year-old into her second final in the eight-woman event after losing in 2010.
Wozniacki goes on to meet the winner of the second semi-final between Venus Williams and Caroline Garcia, while Pliskova is left to rue a defeat that prevents her from being able to replace Simona Halep as world No. 1.
“We have had a lot of close matches this year and I was hoping today was my turn. It feels great to be in the final and I have been playing some great tennis this week,” Wozniacki said in a courtside interview.
Both players had raced out of the blocks in their previous three matches in Singapore, but perhaps mindful of what was at stake, they made a cagey start to their semi-final, unable to stamp any sort of authority on proceedings.
Pliskova was the aggressor and found more success when she committed to her attacking shots, while Wozniacki was content to use her supreme court coverage and stonewall defense to stay in touch.
The first five games went with serve until the Czech edged ahead by instigating a run of four straight breaks of serve as Wozniacki staved off three set points in the 10th game stay alive in the set and eventually forced a tiebreak.
The Dane then raced into a 6-1 lead over the sleepwalking Pliskova before the Czech rose from her slumber to first save all five set points and then fashion three more of her own, which Wozniacki somehow managed to survive.
Wozniacki continued to cover every inch of the court to set up another set point, her sixth, with more defensive brilliance, and the former No. 1 sealed the opener 11-9 in the breaker when Pliskova found the net with a backhand.
The Dane was full of confidence and attempted to break free with an early break in the second set to move 3-1 ahead, but Pliskova refused to buckle and stormed back by stepping in to take her shots early to get the contest back on serve.
However, Wozniacki changed tactics again and opted to push the ball into the corners to force Pliskova into some vital errors as she struggled out of position and the Dane broke once more for a 5-3 lead.
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