adminWorld number four Maria Sharapova held her nerve in a tense finish to beat top seed Simona Halep and close in on a last-four place at the WTA Finals. The Russian withstood a Halep fightback to win 6-4 6-4 and move top of the Red Group in Singapore.
US Open champion Flavia Pennetta earlier beat Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to keep her hopes alive. Pennetta and Sharapova will meet in the final round of Red Group matches tomorrow, with Halep facing Radwanska.
All four players remain in with a chance of securing one of two semi-final places.
World number one Serena Williams is absent from the eight-player field in Singapore as she recovers from injury.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova showed her quality and fighting spirit as she built a commanding lead, and then gathered herself as Halep came battling back.
Sharapova, completing only her second full match since Wimbledon following injuries, led 6-4 5-1 but failed to convert two chances to serve out the match.
Halep had her chance to level on serve, only for Sharapova — after a pep talk from coach Sven Groeneveld — to rediscover her attacking intent and fire away a backhand on match point.
“I’m quite pleased to be able to beat the number two player in the world,” said the 28-year-old, who took her career record against Halep to 6-0.
“I don’t think that I played unbelievable tennis today. I still made errors, but cut down on my errors from the first match.” — AP
Online Reporter