Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova on Wednesday moved on to the semi-finals of the ongoing BNP Paribas WTA Finals 2016 Singapore from the White Group, with some help from defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska. Kuznetsova bagged a hard-fought win over Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova, but it was Radwanska's win over Garbine Muguruza that made the way for the Russian to make it to the knockout stages.
Spain's Muguruza, meanwhile, stands eliminated from the competition and either Pliskova or Radwanska can now join Kuznetsova in the last four of the WTA Finals 2016. The Czech and the Polish stars will square off on Friday.
However, prior to that, it remains to be seen which two players from the Red Group now, make it to the semi-finals. World No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany has almost secured her place to the last four, and Madison Keys as well Simona Halep also remain in the fray.
On Thursday, in the two women's singles matches from the Red Group, Halep takes on Dominika Cibulkova in the first match of the day, but the key clash remains the one between Kerber and Madison Keys. Slovakian Cibulkova has a slim chance of making it to the knockouts as she not only has to defeat the Romanian in straight sets in her match, she also has to depend on the result of the other match to see if she can make it to the semi-finals.
Halep, meanwhile, automatically qualifies with a straight-sets win and could even qualify with a three-set loss if Kerber also wins her match against Keys, which is going to be the more important encounter of the day. A straight-sets loss to Kerber would mean elimination for Keys, but there are still several ways she can qualify for the semis if she defeats Kerber, or even if she simply takes a set, which looks a bit too difficult for the American tennis player.
WTA Finals 2016 Day 5 Schedule
The first match of the day between Halep and Cibulkova gets under way at 4 pm Singapore Time (1.30 pm IST) on October 27. This will be followed by the match between Kerber and Madison Keys from 7.30 pm Singapore Time (5 pm IST) on October 27.
Where to watch live
India: No telecast.
USA: TV - ESPN 2. Live streaming - Watch ESPN
Online streaming - WTA website, Tennis TV
Live scores HERE