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Bottom seeds turn the tables as Sloane Stephens, Kiki Bertens reach last-four

Kiki Bertens in action during her match against Naomi Osaka at the WTA Finals Singapore on 26 October, 2018. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)
Kiki Bertens in action during her match against Naomi Osaka at the WTA Finals Singapore on 26 October, 2018. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)

The singles semi-finals at the final edition of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global will be competed by the four lowest seeds for the first time in tournament history, with debutantes Sloane Stephens and Kiki Bertens booking their berths from the Red Group on Friday (26 October).

Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, will face Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, while Bertens will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.

Bertens, a last-minute replacement for the injured world No. 1 Simona Halep, continued her remarkable improvement this season by advancing into the final four as her opponent, US Open champion and crowd favourite Naomi Osaka, retired with an injured left hamstring after losing the first set 6-3.

The Dutch world No. 9, who was runner-up in last year’s doubles competition with Sweden’s Johanna Larsson, has 12 victories over players ranked in the top 10 this season, the most by any player since Serena Williams in 2014.

“Before I really had like, ‘Oh, those are great players, and I can never beat them.’ Now I’m still thinking those are great players but I have beaten them before, so hopefully I can do it again today. It helped me a lot with the confidence,” she said.

A tearful Naomi Osaka retires from her match against Kiki Bertens with a left hamstring injury. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)
A tearful Naomi Osaka retires from her match against Kiki Bertens with a left hamstring injury. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)

Osaka was in tears after her retirement, which left her without a win at this tournament. However, she was more upbeat at the post-match conference, saying, “I really hope that I could have done better, but I think this year has been very eventful, so I should just be grateful for that and I guess just try my best for next year. It’s been a crazy year.”

In the evening match, Stephens made it three wins out of three in the round-robin stage, knocking top-seeded Angelique Kerber out of the tournament with a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Sloane Stephens returns a shot during her match Angelique Kerber. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)
Sloane Stephens returns a shot during her match Angelique Kerber. (PHOTO: Reuters/Edgar Su)

Of the semi-final spots going to the four lowest seeds, she said, “Everyone pretty much counted us out. They were like, ‘Oh, they are barely going to qualify or barely get in.’ I think that everyone came here with nothing to lose but ready to kind of kick a**.

It’s great for us, great for the younger girls just to be able to prove ourselves and even get this far and get here. Yeah, it’s kind of cool.”

Related stories:

Svitolina, Pliskova advance as defending champ Wozniacki exits WTA Finals

Kerber prevails in titanic battle with Osaka, while Stephens fends off Bertens

Caroline Wozniacki takes epic, Elina Svitolina wins 2nd straight match