Simona Halep qualified for the semi-finals of the WTA Tour’s season-ending event without picking up a racquet on Thursday when Eugenie Bouchard won the first game of her match against Serena Williams.
Under the round robin format, the Romanian had been virtually certain of qualifying after winning her first two matches, but she needed Bouchard to take at least one game from Williams to seal her progress.
And Canada’s Bouchard, beaten soundly in her opening matches, fought off break points against the world number one to go 1-0 up in their first set in Singapore.
Halep, 23, has been in great form in her first appearance at the eight-player season finale and she stunned Williams 6-0 6-2 on Wednesday – the 18-time Grand Slam-winner’s worst loss since 1998.
Earlier, Maria Sharapova’s hopes of ending a year as world No.1 for the first time in her career faded dramatically when she crashed in straight sets to Petra Kvitova.
The Russian superstar needed a win to boost her chances of overtaking top-ranked Serena Williams but she blew up in spectacular fashion as Kvitova won 6-3 6-2 in 75 minutes in Singapore.
To finish the year as world No.1, second-ranked Sharapova, 27, now needs to win the end-of-season championship and hope Williams doesn’t reach the final.
But her first loss to Kvitova since 2011 left her campaign hanging by a thread as she sits bottom of White Group with two defeats and one round-robin match left against Agnieszka Radwanska.
“Of course I had a long match, over three hours a day ago, but I don’t feel tired,” said Sharapova, who went down in three sets to Caroline Wozniacki in her opening match.
“I’m happy to be here, I’m happy to be part of this event. It’s easy to sit here and say, ‘Yeah, I’m tired’. I lost two matches. But that’s not the way I feel or the way that I choose to speak.
“I still have a match ahead of me, and I will do my best to finish it on a good note. That’s the only thing I can ask of myself.”
It was a very different story for the resurgent Wozniacki, who beat Radwanska 7-5 6-3 to near a spot in the semis.
“I knew from the start that this wasn’t going to be an easy match,” Wozniacki said.
“I came out there a little bit nervous, but you know, I just did my best out there,” added the world No.8.
