WTA Finals: Caroline Wozniacki beats Karolina Pliskova to make final

Romania’s Simona Halep will end 2017 as world number one after Caroline Wozniacki beat Karolina Pliskova in the WTA semi-finals in Singapore.

Sixth seed Wozniacki, 27, who finished second in her group behind Caroline Garcia, saw off Halep’s only remaining challenger Pliskova 7-6 (11-9) 6-3.

The Dane’s defence was key in the second set after both players wasted chances to win the opener in Singapore.

American Venus Williams plays France’s Garcia in Saturday’s other semi-final.

“That was a little bit crazy. It was a rollercoaster, I’m just happy I got that first set under my belt,” said Wozniacki who reached her first final in seven years.

“I’ve been playing really great tennis this week so to be in the finals, it means a lot to me.”

Wozniacki edges through

Third seed Pliskova could have stolen the number one spot from Halep with victory in the WTA Championship finals.

Pliskova found success with her attacking shots and earned a 5-3 lead in the first set but Wozniacki used her stonewall defence to stay in touch.

The world number six then broke Pliskova as she looked to serve out the first set, before battling hard to take it to a tie-break.

Wozniacki wasted five consecutive set points in the lengthy tie-break, as her opponent blew three of her own, before the Dane prevailed.

In a tight second set, there were five breaks of serve but despite hitting far fewer winners, Wozniacki’s defence forced Pliskova into some vital errors as she struggled to cover the court.

Wozniacki ended the match with just nine unforced errors to earn a shot at her first end-of-season title.

• Live scores and results

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