Daily Times

FORT WORTH: Caroline Garcia rallied from a set down to beat Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) on Saturday in a winner-take-all clash that sent the French player into the WTA Finals knockout phase. The clash for the last semi-final berth was tense and action-packed, Garcia shaking off the frustration of the first set then holding on in the tightly contested third to line up a meeting with fifth-ranked Greek Maria Sakkari. Round robin play concluded later Saturday with world number one Iga Swiatek, already assured of her semi-final berth, beating American teenager Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-0. Gauff had already been eliminated from semi-final contention. Garcia, ranked sixth, became the first player in 30 attempts this season to beat Kasatkina after dropping the first set. After rolling through the second set, she had a chance to break in the 13-minute ninth game of the third, but Kasatkina saved six break points to hold as they went to a tiebreaker. Garcia gave herself two match points with a gutsy rally, sending Kasatkina wide with a swinging forehand volley then firing a backhand volley cross-court.

Kasatkina saved one match point, but dropped a volley into the net on the next. Garcia, who at the age of 29 is enjoying a resurgence, won titles this year in Bad Homburg and Warsaw before her triumph in Cincinnati and also reached the semi-finals of the US Open. Garcia takes a 2-0 career lead over Sakkari into Sunday’s semi-final, including a victory at Cincinnati this year on route to the title. Swiatek, winner of the French Open and US Open this year, will face seventh-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semis at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. The event was moved to Texas due to continuing pandemic-related issues with the Chinese city of Shenzhen, which was initially due to host, as well as the WTA’s dispute with China over the status of player Peng Shuai.