Defending champion Iga Swiatek will face Aryna Sabalenka in the Stuttgart Open final after Ons Jabeur was forced to retire from their semi-final with a left calf injury.
World number one Swiatek was 3-0 up against Jabeur when her tearful opponent called a medical timeout and ultimately ended the contest early.
It sets up a mouthwatering showdown between top seed Swiatek and second seed Sabalenka, who defeated Anastasia Potapova in straight sets earlier on Saturday.
Jabeur, who struggled to shake off the injury sustained in the first game, said: "The third point, I don't know what happened.
"I was really excited to play Iga today – it's always a fun match between us. I wish her the best luck for the final. I'm sorry guys, I really tried to run, but Iga never makes it easy."
Sabalenka, a beaten finalist in the past two years, held her serve in the opening set against Potapova and twice broke her unseeded opponent to take the lead.
The Belarusian raced 4-0 ahead in the second set and saw out a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory in a little under an hour to reach her fourth final of the year.
"I think I was really focused, and I think from the very first point I was playing really aggressive," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. "I didn't give [Potapova] much time.
"I think that's why the match finished like that quick. But anyway, she's a great player, and I think in the future she's going to be a top player."
Swiatek defeated Sabalenka in last year's Stuttgart final 6-2 6-2 and is aiming to become the first player to defend the title since Angelique Kerber in 2016.
WTA Finals: Gauff never gave up hope in topsy turvy showpiece
Coco Gauff explained how she kept her cool despite the helter-skelter nature of her WTA Finals clash with Qinwen Zheng.
Gauff prevailed 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in Riyadh on Saturday to become the youngest WTA Finals champion since 2004.
She was pushed all the way by Olympic champion Zheng, who led 5-3 at one stage in the decider and also clawed back four matchpoints before Gauff eventually got over the line.
"Tired, it's been a hard season," Gauff told Sky Sports after her victory.
"It was a really great match. Qinwen played some unbelievable tennis. I was just trying my best to hang in there and I never gave up.
"I was just telling myself, 'It's another point, another chance'. I've been in situations like this in the past and have been able to turn it around, and was able to do it again."
Gauff is the first player since Serena Williams (12, between 2013 and 2015) to win at least eight consecutive hard-court finals.
The 20-year-old collapsed on the court after her winning shot, something the American quipped she had mentally reserved for grand slam victories.
"At the end of the match, when I, like, fell on the floor, I didn't think I was going to do that," said Gauff, who has secured the year-end world number three ranking.
"I made a promise to myself that I will save that for grand slams. But honestly, to the way the match went, I was like, 'I'm just tired. I just want to lay on the ground.'
"I know I was like a couple of points away from losing, but, you know, I just tried to stay in the moment, honestly, and I'm really proud of myself."
For Zheng, it was a case of taking the positives from the first WTA Finals showpiece match that had to be settled by a third-set tie-break/
She said: "The match was very close, and then, you know, at the end, when you play this type of match, it's not about tennis, it's just about choices on court.
"When you lose a match, there's lessons you have to learn. So I would say it's a lot of positive things, because it's my first WTA Finals, but at the same time, I feel hurt to lose this match. But we will see. Maybe next time I will be better."
WTA Finals: Gauff downs Zheng to clinch title
Coco Gauff triumphed over Qinwen Zheng after three sets to become the youngest WTA Finals champion in 20 years.
Having fallen behind in Saturday's final in Riyadh, Gauff bounced back to prevail 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
Gauff had squandered two match points when 6-5, 40-15 up in the decider, with Zheng clawing back to force a tie-break.
Yet, the American rediscovered her composure to cruise into a 5-0 lead, and though she saw another two match points fall by the wayside, Gauff got the job done at the fifth time of asking.
A short Zheng return clipped the top of the net, with Gauff scrambling from the baseline to meet it before flicking a forehand to the left of her opponent, with this year's Olympic champion unable to get there.
Gauff, who beat Iga Swiatek in the group stage and downed world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, collapsed to the court in celebration, after winning what was the second-longest WTA Tour-level final of 2024.
Data Debrief: It's a marathon, not a sprint
Zheng made a blistering start, but despite going a break up in the second set, she could not maintain the momentum.
Gauff's wobble in the decider meant the WTA Finals championship match had to be decided by a third-set tie-break for the first time since the tournament's introduction in 1972.
At 20, Gauff is the youngest player to win the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004, and the youngest American champion of the event since Serena Williams in 2001.
Only Nancy Richey and Anna Smashnova (10 each) have won more titles after their first 10 WTA Tour-level finals than Gauff (nine) in the Open Era.
Meanwhile, she is the first player since Williams (12, between the 2013 US Open and 2015 Cincinnati Open) to win at least eight consecutive hard-court finals, and the youngest to do so since Martina Hingis in 1998.
Alcaraz aiming to turn 'motivation' into maiden ATP Finals crown
Carlos Alcaraz said he arrives at the ATP Finals with "a lot of motivation" and is looking to make his mark in Turin next week.
Alcaraz, who claimed two grand slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon this year, missed the event in 2022 after picking up an internal oblique muscle tear.
The Spaniard was then beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, though the Olympic champion has since withdrawn from this year's tournament with an ongoing injury issue.
Alcaraz, however, enters the year-end competition with a win-loss record of 52-11, with only Jannik Sinner (12) claiming more top 10 wins in 2024 than the 21-year-old (11).
“Last year was a difficult end of the year for me,” Alcaraz said. “I could not play at my best.
"The last two matches here were pretty good matches for me, but the previous two, three tournaments I didn’t play at my best, so I realised I had to change a little bit at this time of the year, which I did this year.
“I come here a little bit different. I approach this tournament a little differently, knowing there are things I have to change if I am to have a good result here and go far.
"Last year I didn’t start well from the first matches. I will try to play at the same level and will try to play good tennis. I am coming here with a lot of motivation.”
Alcaraz was drawn in the John Newcombe Group at the ATP Finals alongside Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.
He will start against Ruud on Monday, but might face the strongest competition in the group from Zverev, who claimed his seventh Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters.
Among the qualifiers for this year's event, Zverev (14) and Daniil Medvedev (11) are the only two to have recorded 10 or more match wins at the ATP Finals.
Alcaraz and Zverev have faced each other 10 times, winning five apiece, though Alcaraz has won the last two, including at Roland-Garros in the French Open showpiece.
“He is one of the toughest players in the world for sure,” Alcaraz said about Zverev.
“I think I return pretty well but he has a really big serve and plays unbelievable from the baseline, which makes him a really tough opponent to face.
“He has won more than 20 ATP Tour titles, lots of Masters titles. He wants a Grand Slam and I told him he is going to get it for sure.
"At the end of his career he will get at least one, let's see if more.
"He deserves it. He is a really hard worker. He has lifted the big trophies. I don’t like to face him because of his serves and shots, but I am trying to find the beauty of playing him.”
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