Caroline Garcia fought back to beat Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and advance to the WTA Finals last four when top-ranked Simona Halep was beaten by Elina Svitolina.
Garcia defeated Wozniacki 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the first Red Group match, giving both 2-1 records. Wozniacki had already progressed but Garcia had to wait for the second group game to determine her fate. Svitolina beat Halep 6-3, 6-4 in the second group game to ensure Garcia won the Red Group.
Halep is eliminated in the round robin stage for the third straight season, after finishing runner-up to Serena Williams in her 2014 debut.
Despite not reaching the semifinals, Halep will retain the number 1 ranking unless Pliskova wins the title, which would make her the year-end number 1.
The semi-final line-up on Saturday sees France’s Caroline Garcia take on American fifth seed Venus Williams, and sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki will face group’s winner and Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova.