ZHUHAI: America’s CoCo Vandeweghe defeated Ashleigh Barty in the semi-finals of the WTA Elite Trophy here on Saturday, ending the Australian’s impressive run in the tournament.

Barty, who had beaten former world number one Angelique Kerber and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova earlier in the week, tumbled out of the competition after a tough match that Vandeweghe won 6-3, 6-3 in just one hour and two minutes.

Vandeweghe, the number two seed, will now face Germany’s Julia Goerges in the final at the Hengqin Inter­national Tennis Center in Zhuhai.

Goerges, seeded seventh, earlier hammered Anastasija Sevastova also in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and 11 minutes.

Despite the loss, Barty is ending the season on a high having soared into the top 20 in the world rankings, from outside the top 300 at the end of last year.

She put up a good fight in the first set, holding serve until the fifth game when Vandeweghe finally secured the break after squandering four earlier opportunities.

The American went on to take the set point in the ninth game when she broke service once again.

A determined Barty managed to save three match points in the eighth game of the second set but Vandeweghe ultimately proved too much for the 21-year-old.

In the other semi-final Goerges similarly proved to be a tough opponent for Sevastova from the start, breaking her in the first game.

She continued to dominate in the second set, powering into a 4-1 lead after five games before going on to claim the match.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2017