FILE PHOTO: Tennis – China Open – Women’s Singles – Second Round – National Tennis Center, Beijing, China – October 3, 2018. Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic in action against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
October 13, 2018
(Reuters) – Top seed Karolina Pliskova produced a ruthless display as she raced past Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky 6-2 6-1 to reach the Tianjin Open final on Saturday.
Pliskova, who won the Pan Pacific Open title last month, dropped just eight points on serve and broke Bacsinszky four times to reach Sunday’s final against France’s Caroline Garcia.
World number six Pliskova, currently eighth in the Race to Singapore standings, is battling for one of the three available spots in the season-ending WTA Finals starting on Oct. 21.
The 26-year-old Czech would improve her chances by claiming her third title of the season on Sunday.
“I know I have a good chance to get to Singapore between this week and next week as well,” former world number one Pliskova said.
“I think it was a pretty okay year for me and if I end it in Singapore it’s going to be amazing for me. It’s always a goal… so hopefully, I can end there.”
Second seed Garcia cruised past Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 6-3 6-4 to move into her first final since lifting back-to-back titles in Wuhan and Beijing last year.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
