SINGAPORE — Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska took the final spot in the semifinals of the WTA Finals, beating Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-3 Friday.
Radwanska, who finished 2-1 in the round robin, will play top-seeded Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s semifinals. Kerber won the Australian Open and the US Open this season, and reached the Wimbledon final.
“I think I really have nothing to lose at the moment, especially (since) I’m going to play the best player of the season,” Radwanska said of the top-ranked German. Earlier, Svetlana Kuznetsova earned first place in the White Group despite losing to Garbine Muguruza 3-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Kuznetsova will next play Dominika Cibulkova, who reached the semifinals despite finishing 1-2.
Pliskova offered Radwanska too many free points, making 29 unforced errors to only eight for the Pole.
Kuznetsova managed to win the first set against Muguruza, but looked fatigued after that.
Murray beats Simon
Andy Murray defeated France’s Gilles Simon for the 16th time Thursday to reach the Vienna ATP quarterfinals and keep alive his bid to snatch Novak Djokovic’s world No. 1 ranking.
The Olympic and Wimbledon champion eventually triumphed 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 after two hours and 40 minutes in a match which saw Murray commit an uncharacteristic 58 unforced errors.
Simon was almost as sloppy, hitting just three fewer.
Murray, the 2014 champion in Vienna, goes on to face John Isner for a place in the semifinals.
If he wins the Vienna title and Paris crown next week, Murray could unseat Djokovic as world No. 1 as long as the Serb star loses before the final in the French capital.
Unseeded Serb Viktor Troicki earlier defeated third seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-2, 7-5 a result which qualified Gael Monfils into the eight-man field at the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Defending champion David Ferrer, the Spanish fifth seed, also made the quarterfinals by seeing off Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-2, 7-6 (7/4).
Del Potro, Wawrinka advance
Two-time champion Juan Martin del Potro and top-seeded Stan Wawrinka advanced to the Swiss Indoors quarterfinals Thursday.
Del Potro beat fifth-seeded David Goffin of Belgium 7-5, 6-3, while Wawrinka had 16 aces as he beat American player Donald Young 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4.
Both players held their serve in the first set and dropped it once in the second. Wawrinka, the US Open champion, took the only chance he got on Young’s serve in the deciding set.
Del Potro, who won the Stockholm indoor title Sunday, extended his winning streak to seven matches — six against players higher in the standings than the 42nd-ranked Argentine player.
Goffin, who beat Del Potro at the Shanghai Masters two weeks ago, struggled with his second serves and was broken once in each set.
Del Potro will play No. 5 Kei Nishikori of Japan.
Wawrinka, who was also taken to three sets in the first round, next faces Mischa Zverev of Germany, who beat Guido Pella of Argentina 6-4, 6-2. He broke Pella’s serve three times and saved both chances on his own serve.
Earlier, fourth-seeded Marin Cilic had 10 aces in a 6-0, 7-6 (4) win over Pablo Carreno Busta.
Cilic lost only five points in the first set against the 32nd-ranked Spaniard. The second set went with serve, and Cilic trailed in the tiebreaker before reeling off seven straight points.
Cilic next plays Marcel Granollers of Spain, who beat eighth-seeded Jack Sock of the United States 6-3, 6-1.
Earlier, Gilles Muller of Luxembourg earned a spot in the last eight against Federico Delbonis of Argentina. Muller beat Florian Mayer of Germany 6-3, 6-2. — Agencies
