Friday 24 October 2014 16:00, UK
Maria Sharapova's hopes of winning the WTA Finals and claiming the year-end No 1 ranking both ended on Friday despite a three-set victory over Agnieszka Radwanska.
Sharapova needed to win in straight sets at Singapore's Indoor Stadium to have any chance of advancing to the semi-finals, and had to win the title if she was to overtake Serena Williams at the top of the rankings.
The French Open champion won the first set 7-5, but then let slip three match points and a 5-1 lead in the second set before Radwanska reeled off five straight games to force a tiebreaker, which she won 7-4.
The Russian, who had already lost to Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova in the White Group, claimed the third to win 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 in over three hours.
The result meant Wozniacki was guaranteed a place in the semi-finals while the Dane's 6-2 6-3 victory over Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova ensured that Radwanska progressed to the last four, despite a 1-2 group-stage record.
"A little impatient, her doing a good job of retrieving balls that is her strength and going for a little bit more than I should have," Sharapova said in explaining what went wrong in the second set.
"I know I'm not moving forward but I'm proud of that effort, and to finish the year in this way."
Serbia's Ana Ivanovic just missed out on a place in the semi-finals despite beating Simona Halep in the final group match on Friday.
It was a very tough match, she's a great player and the first set was really hard. I had plenty of opportunities even at 2-5 down that I didn't really take.
Under the rules of the round-robin competition, Ivanovic needed to win in straight sets to leapfrog Serena Williams in the group standings and snatch the last available semi-final spot.
But after coming from 5-2 behind to win the first set in dramatic fashion, she was unable to finish off Halep in the second, and had to settle for a 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-3 consolation win.
"It was a very tough match, she's a great player and the first set was really hard. I had plenty of opportunities even at 2-5 down that I didn't really take," Ivanovic said in a courtside interview.
"But I really tried to fight hard from that point on and it was amazing to turn it around. The second set was also a battle so to prevail in the end was amazing."
Halep, runner-up at this year's French Open, faces Agnieska Radwanska in Saturday's semi-finals while Williams, who is chasing a hat-trick of WTA Finals titles, meets Caroline Wozniacki in a rematch of last month's US Open final.
