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The last group stage day of the WTA Finals 2019 will see the World No. 2 Karolina Pliskova take on World No. 7 Simona Halep for the final spot in the semi-finals. With three places already filled, the fourth place battle comes down to the last match of the Purple Group.
In the first match of the day, Elina Svitolina will take on Sofia Kenin to finish off her group stage matches. Kenin came in as a replacement for Bianca Andreescu, who withdrew from the tournament after she retired during her match against Karolina Pliskova couple of days earlier. Kenin is the second player to have replaced an injured player in this edition of the year-end championships.
Kiki Bertens has replaced Naomi Osaka earlier after the latter pulled out of the tournament due to a right shoulder injury. Interestingly, Bertens also retired from her last match due to a viral illness and was seen telling her coach that she was finding it difficult to bend down for shots. Her retirement meant a early win for Belinda Bencic and a semi-final tie with defending champion Elina Svitolina.
Simona Halep vs Karolina Pliskova Preview
The eleventh career meeting between the Romanian and the Czech will be the third one this year after Madrid Open and Miami Open. Even though Halep holds a upper hand with 7-3 win loss records, Pliskova have won the last two encounters on the hard court. The winner of the match will play against Ashleigh Barty in the semi-finals of WTA Finals 2019.
Halep won her first group match against Bianca Andreescu on Tuesday, before losing against Elina Svitolina in her second match. Similar was the result for Pliskova when she faced Svitolina and Andreescu in her group stage matches.
Halep is having slight troubles when it has come to her serving in recent matches. With only 60% of the serve points coming in her match against Svitolina, the 2019 Wimbledon champion has not been able to lift her serve. It would be something Pliskova would be eyeing to take advantage of.
Pliskova, on the other hand, has been strong in the last few weeks and is leading the tour with the most number of title wins this year. Her strong serve and powerful hits will be something to watch for against Halep.
Prediction - Pliskova to win in three sets
Elina Svitolina vs Sofia Kenin Preview
Having already topped her group and made a place in the semi-final, Elina Svitolina will be facing Sofia Kenin in her last group match. Kenin comes in as a replacement of Bianca Andreescu in the Red Group.
It will be fifth encounter against each other, with both winning two matches each in previous four matches, all of them coming this year. The match will be dead rubber as Kenin will have no chance of moving to the semi-finals even if she wins the match in straight sets. Svitolina will, however, look to continue her winning run at Shenzhen after her straight sets win over Halep and Pliskova.
While Kenin is guaranteed a prize money of $165,000 for just walking onto the court, she will look this as an opportunity to make her name by giving Svitolina a fight on the indoor hard court.
Prediction - Svitolina to win in three sets
2019 WTA Finals Schedule Day 6, (1st November)
Tournament name: 2019 Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen
Location: China
Category: Year-ending championships
Match 1: Elina Svitolina vs Sofia Kenin (Approx 4:00 PM IST)
Match 2: Karolina Pliskova vs Simona Halep (Approx 5:30 PM IST)
Broadcast: No live telecast in India
Live score: wtafinals.com
You can follow all the coverage of the WTA Finals 2019 here on Sportskeeda.
