Elina Svitolina stuns Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep beats Bianca Andreescu at WTA Finals

2018 WTA Finals champion Elina Svitolina secured a 7-6(14-12) 6-4 victory over Czech world No. 2 Karolina Pliskova in nearly two hours in the first match of the Purple Group at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. The eighth seed claimed the opening set after the longest tie-break of the season which lasted for 18 minutes before sealing a straight-sets win over Pliskova.

In the other women’s singles clash, Wimbledon champion Simona Halep saved a match point to beat Canadian sensation Bianca Andreescu in three sets in their Purple Group round-robin clash. The world No. 5 revealed all her fighting qualities to bounce back from a set down to claim a 3-6 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 victory over US Open winner Bianca Andreescu. The 28-year-old Romanian lost the first set 3-6 but battled back to win the next two 7-6, 6-3 closing out the match in two hours and 34 minutes.

What’s next?

Bianca Andreescu plays against Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep faces Elina Svitolina in the second round-robin match on Wednesday.