Elina Svitolina of Ukraine returns the ball during the women's singles semifinal against Belinda Bencic of Sswden at the WTA Finals Tennis Tournament in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)
SHENZHEN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion and world No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine walked through to the finals at the 2019 Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen here on Saturday after No. 7 Belinda Bencic of Sweden retired with an injury.
The two came into the match having equally split their two previous meetings this year, with Svitolina having won in straight sets in Toronto and Bencic coming back from a set down and winning with a tiebreak in the decider in Dubai. The Ukrainian was also the first player to make it through the round-robin stage of the WTA Finals without dropping a set since Serena Williams pulled off the feat in 2013.
With the 5-7, 6-3, 4-1 result, Svitolina snapped a 0-5 season drought in semifinals.
Both players were clutch out of the gate. Bencic held her opening service after coming out ahead in a long baseline rally at 30-all. Svitolina responded with a dominating hold to love that included three aces.
The two players then held the services to 3-2 for the Swede, who saved a break point off solid backhand shooting down the line that allowed her to find tricky winners.
Belinda Bencic (bottom) of Sweden receives medical time out during the women's singles semifinal against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine at the WTA Finals Tennis Tournament in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)
This same pattern helped Bencic hold Svitolina's next service to 15 for a break to go up 4-2. But Svitolina was undeterred, and managed to convert a triple break point after a Bencic double fault followed by a backhand unforced.
Svitolina then held to go 4-all. Bencic would stumble on her next service, coughing up another double-fault to send the point to deuce. But the Swede (who was visibly rattled on court) managed to keep it together, sealing the hold with a forehand winner.
The two players then served out to 6-5 for the Swede, who then called a medical time out for what appeared to be a hamstring issue.
The massaging given by the physio must have done the trick for Bencic. She stormed to a 15-40 lead on Svitolina's attempt to take it to a tiebreak, converting a triple break point to seal the opener in 48 minutes.
Bencic fired off 13 winners in the first set to only 7 for her opponent. Eight aces from Svitolina in the first set ended up not being enough to see her through. The Ukrainian spit out 13 unforced errors and logged some truly abysmal shooting on return (27 percent on first return at 24 on second) on the way to dropping her first set here in Shenzhen.
Svitolina turned up the heat as the second set got underway, breaking Bencic's first service of the second at 30 with some solid shooting down the line. The Ukrainian then saved a break point on her own service to maintain the lead.
The two then traded holds to 15, with Svitolina firing off her 9th ace. Bencic began to show more signs of physical distress, rolling her foot on a racquetball at the changeover. A second medical time out when down at 3-4 proved another worrying sign for Bencic.
Belinda Bencic (L) of Sswden hugs Elina Svitolina of Ukraine after the women's singles semifinal at the WTA Finals Tennis Tournament in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Nov. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)
Svitolina's forehand came alive as the second set wore on. The Ukrainian fired off two more aces and significantly improved her second returns, converting 2/3 break points and saving each one she faced on the way to forcing a decider in exactly 40 minutes.
This run of points continued into the decider, with Svitolina getting three more aces and as many winners as she stormed to a 3-0 lead.
Although Bencic would get on the board with a hold to go 3-1, her injury eventually got the best of her. After dropping 20 of the last 22 points at 4-1 for the Ukrainian, Bencic walked to the net and shook her opponent's hand, retiring and letting the defending champion walk through to the finals.
Svitolina will face the winner of the next match on court between world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia and No. 2 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the finals.
