Current world No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia advances to the semifinal round of the ongoing WTA Finals in Singapore after getting the better of the fifth-ranked Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in three hard-fought sets on Wednesday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang.

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The 31-year-old Kuznetsova, who made the final cut of the prestigious US$7,000,000 tournament following her successful campaign at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last Saturday, scored a thrilling 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)triumph against Pliskova. With the victory, the Russian tennis ace secured her place in the final four for the first time in her professional tennis career.

"I felt the support of the crowd and I couldn't let anyone down. I had to fight," Kuznetsova, who returned to the WTA's top 10 players this season since the year 2011, said as noted by the BBC.

Kuznetsova, the oldest woman left competing in the event, leads the race in the White Group, owning the top spot with two wins in two matches played. She defeated the tourney's defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland last Monday with a 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 win, basing from the report of The Guardian.

Radwanska follows with one victory on hand after registering a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory against the world No. 6 Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, who remains winless. Pliskova comes next in third place with also a win on hand but Radwanska had a better 3-2 sets won-lost record compared with her 3-3.

Pliskova and Radwanska will still face each other to determine the second top player of the group and move on to the semifinal round of the competition as the top two players from each group will qualify to compete in the final four. The winner between the two top-caliber players will be facing the incumbent world No. 1 and Red Group's top finisher Angelique Kerber of Germany in the semifinals.

TagsWTA finals singapore, wta rankings, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Garbine Muguruza, tennis news