SINGAPORE: Racquet-smashing Serena Williams will get a chance to avenge a humiliating loss against Simona Halep after they both advanced to the title match at the season-ending WTA Finals with victories in contrasting styles on Saturday.

Serena, her insatiable will to win as strong as ever, started poorly but after her racquet paid the price, she regained her composure to dominate the second set and emerge victorious from a tense deciding tie-breaker to win it 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) and remain on course for a third-straight title.

The 18-time Grand Slam-winner will play Halep in Sunday’s final, four days after her 6-0, 6-2 loss to the Romanian — the American’s heaviest loss in 16 years.

The pint-sized Halep continued her brilliant run in Singapore with a 6-2, 6-2 dismantling of Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska as the Singapore tournament’s surprise package made it to the final on debut, setting the stage for a mouth-watering rematch with the world number one.

The world number four has been the form player of the tournament, dropping only 27 games across four matches against top-eight-ranked opponents and backed by a phalanx of noisy Romanian fans, belted 26 winners against just four conceded as she broke Radwanska five times to win in 68 minutes.

“I’m very excited to be in the final,” Halep said. “I’ve played my best tennis here this week.”

The best of friends off the court, Serena and Wozniacki slugged it out like two prize-fighters for almost two and a quarter hours until Serena delivered the killer blow to end a contest filled with drama and escalating tension.

The American looked to be on the ropes after losing the first set and smashing her racquet in frustration, then falling 5-4 behind in the third set.

But Wozniacki, who lost to Serena in last month’s US Open final, blinked first, missing her chance to serve out the match and the American made her pay by going on to win the deciding tie-breaker.

It was a bittersweet win for Serena who said only matches against her sister Venus had previously created such mixed feelings.

“It was the first match I didn’t feel great — if you take Venus out of the equation — where I wasn’t happy after I won,” Serena said. “I really wanted to cry because Caro is so nice, we get along and we do so much together. She’s like my little baby sister, from a different mother, and father, and different country.”

Serena, 33, said she would start out with “low goals” against Halep, after winning just two games in their group match — her worst performance since she was 16.

“I’m excited. My goal is to win three games. That’ll be my first goal. I’m going to go from there,” joked Serena. “Hopefully I can hold serve. That would be good. Most of all, I hope to break once.”

Halep won five straight games in the first set to quickly assume a grip on the match that she never relinquished. Radwanska took only four points off Halep’s first serve for the match, which was over in just 67 minutes.

The irony of Sunday’s final is that Serena only qualified for the semi-finals because Halep dropped a set in her final group match against Ana Ivanovic.

Had the already-qualified Halep won that match in straight sets, Ivanovic would have made the semi-finals at Serena’s expense.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2014