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First victory for Elina Svitolina at the WTA Finals: the top Ukrainian player has kept her hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive at the prestigious end-of-year tournament. Svitolina defeated Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 and can still hold out high hopes. Muchova, by contrast, suffered her second defeat.
Svitolina had previously lost her opening Group 2 match decisively to French Open winner Mirra Andreeva. Muchova was also defeated in two sets by world number one Aryna Sabalenka. Andreeva and Sabalenka will face each other in the second match of the day at Indian Wells.
Final on Sunday
At the season-ending tournament, with a prize fund of US$10.0 million, the top two players from each of the two groups of four will advance to the semi-finals following the group stage. The final of the hard-court tournament in California takes place on Sunday.
Originally, this year’s WTA Finals were due to take place in Saudi Arabia. However, after the US carried out military strikes against Iran in February, which led to a war in the region, the tournament was relocated to Indian Wells in July.
