Caroline Garcia produced a dominant performance to overcome Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-2 in the last four of the WTA Finals in Fort Worth on Sunday.

Garcia emerged as the victor of a topsy-turvy tussle with Daria Kasatkina on Saturday, but enjoyed a far more routine outing as she sealed her first final appearance at the competition.

Sakkari had cruised through the Nancy Richey Group with three straight-sets victories, but fell some way short of those lofty standards as she failed to force a single break-point in the opener.

Garcia took 80 per cent of points on her first serve in the opening set, breaking in the fourth game and dictating proceedings from the baseline in impressive fashion.

The match resembled something of a procession after Garcia claimed consecutive breaks to seize the initiative in the second set, and the French Open champion sealed the victory when Sakkari's weak return clipped the net. 

Garcia has now won seven matches against top-10 opponents in 2022, becoming the first French player to post seven such victories in a calendar year since Amelie Mauresmo in 2009.

The world number six is also the first player to reach the title match at the WTA Finals after turning 29 years old since Venus Williams did so in 2017, and will now bid to cap a tremendous year with victory over either Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Garcia – 21/17

Sakkari – 8/19

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia – 6/1

Sakkari – 0/1

BREAK POINTS WON

Garcia – 4/5

Sakkari – 1/3 

Caroline Garcia came out on top in an almighty battle with Daria Kasatkina to complete the WTA Finals semi-final line-up on Saturday.

The winner of the Tracy Austin Group match in Fort Worth knew they would face Maria Sakkari in the last four and it was world number six Garcia who got the job done.

Frenchwoman Garcia won 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-5) in a topsy-turvy contest that was finally settled in two hours and 27 minutes.

Kasatkina won four games in a row to take the opening set, but sixth seed Garcia stormed back to level the match in emphatic fashion as her aggressive approach paid off.

Russian Kasatkina twice came from a break down in a tense decider and fended off six break points in the ninth game of the final set to hold for a 5-4 lead, but Garcia held her nerve in the tie-break to advance.

Garcia and Sakkari will do battle for a place in the final on Sunday, with the winner facing either Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Garcia- 42/48
Kasatkina - 16/26

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Garcia - 4/2
Kasatkina - 1/8

BREAK POINTS WON

Garcia - 6/14
Kasatkina - 5/7

Serena Williams thinks she is "getting closer" to the light at the end of the tunnel after winning her first singles match in 430 days at the Canadian Open on Monday.

The 23-time grand slam champion beat Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3 6-4 in the opening round in Toronto, securing her first singles victory since a defeat of Danielle Collins at the 2021 French Open.

Williams returned from a one-year absence at Wimbledon last month after recovering from injury, but was beaten by Harmony Tan in the first round.

The long-awaited win in Toronto was her first since turning 40 and it gave the American a timely lift ahead of the US Open.

"I guess there’s just a light at the end of the tunnel," she said. “I don’t know, I’m getting closer to the light, so… lately that's been it for me. I can’t wait to get to that light."

When asked what "the light" means to her, she responded "freedom".

"I love playing though, so it’s like, amazing," she added. "But, you know, I can’t do this forever. 

"Sometimes you just want to try your best to enjoy the moments, and do the best that you can."

Williams became just the fourth player since 2000 to win a WTA-Tour level main-draw match after turning 40, along with Martina Navratilova, Kimiko Date-Krumm and her sister Venus Williams.

It also gave her the all-time lead for wins at the Canadian Open in the Open Era, this being her 35th victory at the event to break her tie with Chris Evert.

World number one Iga Swiatek beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4 6-1 to progress to the quarter-finals of the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome on Thursday. 

Swiatek, who became the first female player to win 25 consecutive matches since Serena Williams in 2015, will face Bianca Andreescu in the last eight after she eased past Petra Martic 6-4 6-4.

"I didn't start well, and everybody could see that," Swiatek told reporters. "I'm really happy with the way I reacted and how I improved in the first set.

"Also how different the second set looked to the first one because I could really reset and really change the way I played. That's the most positive thing for me."

There was a shock in the final game of the day, though, as Daria Kasatkina dumped out number two seed Paula Badosa 6-4 6-4. 

Third seed Aryna Sabalenka sealed a third straight win over Jessica Pegula, easing to a 6-1 6-4 victory, while fourth seed Maria Sakkari defeated Coco Gauff 6-4 7-5.

Seventh seed Danielle Collins was knocked out by unseeded compatriot Amanda Anisimova, the 20-year-old cruising past the Australian Open finalist 6-2 6-2.

There were also victories for Jil Teichmann, who overcame Elena Rybakina 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-5, and ninth seed Ons Jabeur, who beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-2.

Iga Swiatek and Paula Badosa progressed to the third round of the Internazionali d'Italia with ease as the former continued her impressive winning run on Wednesday.

Top seed Switaek, seeking a fifth consecutive title, breezed past Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3 6-0 as she became the first female player to win 24 consecutive matches since Serena Williams in 2015.

Badosa followed suit by dispatching Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 6-1 in just an hour and 17 minutes, teeing up a third-round clash with Daria Kasatkina, who beat Leylah Fernandez 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-2).

Aryna Sabalenka, the third favourite in Italy, also made light work of Zhang Shuai to triumph 6-2 6-0, while fourth seed Maria Sakkari cruised past Madrid Open semi-finalist Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-2.

Sakkari will next face a Rome rematch with Coco Gauff, who defeated compatriot Madison Brengle 6-2 6-4. Teenager Gauff's sole win against Sakkari came at this tournament in the second round last year.

Yulia Putintseva came from behind to beat Garbine Muguruza 3-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-1, and will next meet Ons Jabeur, who made it eight successive main-draw wins by defeating Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-2.

Seventh seed Danielle Collins also battled past former world number one Simona Halep 7-6 (7-1) 6-3.

There was no such joy for fifth seed Anett Kontaveit as she crashed out to Petra Martic in straight sets, while Jil Teichmann upset former Rome champion Karolina Pliskova in a three-set thriller.

Belinda Bencic, who was ranked as 12th seed, was another early casualty as she fell to a 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 defeat against American Amanda Anisimova.

Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula secured her third-round spot after Anhelina Kalinina withdrew due to injury, with Victoria Azarenka earning a straightforward 6-2 6-4 victory over Camila Osorio to get a shot at favourite Swiatek in the next round.

Emma Raducanu retired from her first-round match with Bianca Andreescu at the Internazionali d'Italia because of a lower back injury.

The world number 12 was trailing 6-2 2-1 when calling time on the match against Andreescu in a highly anticipated showdown between two of the past three US Open winners.

Raducanu initially left the court for treatment ahead of the seventh game of the opening set for a medical timeout and completed just four more games.

Speaking after her withdrawal, coming two weeks before the French Open, Raducanu explained she did not want to aggravate an injury sustained at last week's Madrid Open.

"I thought maybe taking one, two days off, it would go away because a lot of the other small niggles I've had, they've kind of gone away after taking, like, two days off," she said.

"Then I got here and I was training, but it just didn't seem to get better. I was training with some limitations. I wasn't moving really.

"I was just playing where I knew where the ball was coming, just staying in one corner. I think I must have underestimated the unpredictability of competition in a match.

"The last few weeks have been really positive. I've learned a lot about myself and my game has definitely improved on this surface but I need to make sure my back is fully right.

"I need to just keep on it. I don't want to play my next match with a feeling of limitation because I think that I learned my lesson from this week, when to push, when not to push." 

Ons Jabeur joined Andreescu in the last 32 with a 6-0 7-6 (7-1) victory over Sorana Cirstea to keep her impressive run of form going.

The Tunisian won her first WTA 1000 title in Madrid last week and has now won seven successive main draw matches for the first time in her career

Elsewhere in Tuesday's action, American qualifier Lauren Davis pulled off a shock 6-2 6-3 win against number 11 seed Jelena Ostapenko.

Fellow Americans Jessica Pegula, Madison Brengle and Amanda Anisimova also advanced, beating Liudmila Samsonova, Marta Kostyuk and Tereza Martincova respectively.

Anisimova, who is now the player with the most wins in three sets so far in 2022 with nine, will face Belinda Bencic for a place in the last 16.

Former world number ones Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka advanced to the second round of the Internazionali d'Italia on Monday, while Coco Gauff scored an impressive win over Angelique Kerber. 

Halep was a 6-4 6-4 winner against Alize Cornet, who defeated her in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January, and will face seventh seed Danielle Collins next. 

It was only the Romanian's second win in her six matches against Cornet, though she needed two chances to serve out both sets. 

Azarenka needed just 68 minutes to see of Viktorija Golubic, dropping just five points behind her first serve and winning 12 out of 14 from the final three games to complete a 6-3 6-0 triumph. 

It only took Gauff two minutes more to see off the challenge of Kerber, who has now won just two of her eight matches on the WTA Tour this year.

Leylah Fernandez came from behind to claim an impressive 1-6 6-2 6-2 victory over 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while Madison Keys went down 6-4 6-4 to Anhelina Kalinina. 

Aliaksandra Sasnovich's 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 win over Veronika Kudermetova secured her a second-round match against second seed Paula Badosa. 

Belinda Bencic overcame Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-4 6-2, Shuai Zhang set up a match with Aryna Sabalenka by beating Martina Trevisan 6-4 6-2, and Petra Martic will face Anett Kontaveit after besting Karolina Muchova 6-2 3-6 6-1. 

There were also wins for Daria Kasatkina and Yulia Putintseva before rain interrupted Ajla Tomljanovic's match against Camila Giorgi when the Australian was 6-3 4-2 up.

Ons Jabeur produced a fine display as she made light work for Simona Halep to secure her place in the Madrid Open semi-finals.

Former world number one Halep was the only player to have won the competition to have reached the last eight, but she was no match for the Tunisian, who won 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour.

After a difficult start to the year, Jabeur has hit her stride in recent times and will be contesting a second semi-final in three tournaments.

While Jabeur caught the eye, particularly with her penchant for a dropshot, Halep proved to be her own worst enemy, recording 12 more unforced errors (20) than winners (eight).

Up next for Jabeur is qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat 2019 French Open semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova 6-4 6-3 to reach her first WTA 1000 last-four clash.

Alexandrova has won six of her previous seven meetings with Jabeur.

Meanwhile, Anhelina Kalinina saw her impressive run ended by Jil Teichmann. The Ukrainian had seen off three major winners on the bounce in Sloane Stephens, Garbine Muguruza and Emma Raducanu, but she was beaten in straight sets this time.

Teichmann – who won 6-3 6-4 – will face Jessica Pegula for a place in the final, with the American eliminating Spain's final hope of a home winner in Sara Sorribes Tormo, 6-4 6-2.

Emma Raducanu became the third successive major winner to lose to Anhelina Kalinina as the Ukrainian reached her maiden WTA 1000 quarter-final at the Madrid Open.

Ninth-seed Raducanu was the biggest name in action on Tuesday and had been hoping to rack up three successive WTA Tour victories for the first time since her incredible US Open success in September last year.

But Kalinina, who saw off Sloane Stephens and Garbine Muguruza in her two previous matches, got the better of the Brit in an entertaining 6-2 2-6 6-4 win.

Raducanu had not dropped a set in either of her first two outings in Madrid but Kalinina quickly put an end to that.

While the teenager responded well in the second, getting an important break to make it 3-1, Kalinina rallied again in what was a closer deciding set.

The pair traded breaks and then Kalinina got another to set her en route to victory at 5-4 – she had to save one more break point but did ultimately see off Raducanu to book a clash with Jil Teichmann in the last eight.

Teichmann beat Elena Rybakina earlier in the day, dispatching the 16th seed in impressively comfortable fashion as she won 6-3 6-1.

Progression from the last eight for Teichmann will see her reach the semi-final of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.

Sara Sorribes Tormo, the last Spaniard left in the draw, defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-4 1-6 6-3 in something of a rollercoaster ride to line up a quarter-final contest with 12th seed Jessica Pegula.

The American kept her focus despite opponent Bianca Andreescu needing a medical timeout and rain causing a 30-minute halt, eventually winning 7-5 6-1.

Ons Jabuer avenged her recent loss to Belinda Bencic with a win at the Madrid Open, while Coco Gauff is out after being beaten in straight sets in the round of 16 by Simona Halep on Monday.

Gauff joins other big names in exiting the WTA 1000 event, with Naomi Osaka, Garbine Muguruza, Danielle Collins, Paula Badosa and Maria Sakkari among those crashing out in the second round.

The number 14 seed did not put up much resistance against her Romanian opponent, with Halep winning 6-4 6-4 in just 77 minutes.

Gauff struggled on her own serve in particular, making six double faults and only winning 61.5 per cent of her first-serve points, compared to 83.8 from Halep on hers.

The former world number one and two-time Madrid champion will now face the only remaining top-eight seed in the tournament in the quarter-final, Jabeur, who defeated Bencic 6-2 3-6 6-2.

The Tunisian was out for revenge after losing to Bencic at the same stage last year, as well as in the Charleston Open final last month, and took it well as she sealed victory in just over two hours.

"I came here to take my revenge," Jabeur said after the win. "I wish I played like that in the final in Charleston, to be honest.

"Part of me is very proud of myself for coming today and getting the win. Belinda is such an amazing player and it's very tough to play against her. I'm very happy with the level I showed today, and hopefully this level will continue for the rest of the tournament."

Elsewhere, Victoria Azarenka is out after the number 15 seed was beaten 6-1 6-4 by Amanda Anisimova, who will now face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last eight after she overcame Marie Bouzkova 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 7-5.

Naomi Osaka joined several other big names in falling to a second-round exit at the Madrid Open, although Emma Raducanu cruised to a routine straight-sets win over Marta Kostyuk.

Four-time grand slam winner Osaka crashed to a resounding 6-3 6-1 loss to Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo, exiting her first tournament on clay since the 2021 French Open, where she withdrew citing mental health issues.

Osaka, who had posted an underwhelming 20-15 record on the surface prior to this week, looked uncomfortable throughout and appeared to struggle with a leg injury during a disappointing second set display.

The 24-year-old was not the only high profile player to be on the receiving end of a shock during a day of drama in the Spanish capital, as several of the competition's seeds failed to secure places in the last 16.

Another home favourite, Garbine Muguruza, fell to a resounding loss of her own as Anhelina Kalinina raced to a 6-3 6-0 victory over the seventh seed, while sixth seed Danielle Collins was thrashed 6-1 6-1 by Canadian Bianca Andreescu.

Fourth seed Maria Sakkari was the highest-ranked player in action, and although the world number five won the first set of her clash with Daria Kasatkina, the Greek eventually fell to a 3-6 6-3 6-1 loss, while 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez went down 6-4 6-4 to Jil Teichmann.

One big name who did make comfortable progress, however, was Fernandez's US Open conqueror Raducanu, who eased to a 6-2 6-1 win over Kostyuk to set up a last-16 encounter with another Ukrainian in Kalinina. 

The 19-year-old, who has been quoted as saying she believes clay could prove to be her best surface in the future, was delighted with her victory and enjoying the tournament after dropping just one game in the second set.

"I'm definitely happy with my performance," Raducanu said on court. "Marta's a great opponent - I knew it was going to be a really tough battle. I went out there trying to be really aggressive and it paid off.

"It's my first clay court season and I'm really enjoying it. Madrid is such a cool city and it's got such a great vibe about it. I definitely want to try and stay here for as long as possible."

Simona Halep blew Paula Badosa away with a Madrid Open masterclass to reach the round of 16 on Saturday.

Second seed Badosa had no answer to the brilliance of Halep in her homeland as the relentless Romanian won 6-3 6-1 at the Caja Magica.

Unseeded two-time grand slam champion Halep took just an hour and 17 minutes to eliminate Badosa, breaking three times in the first set and twice in the second.

Halep, in a new era with Patrick Mouratoglou in her corner, won 84 per cent of points when she landed her first serve in, staying in the hunt to win this tournament for a third time with the French Open on the horizon.

The former world number one will face Coco Gauff for a place in the quarter-finals following the American's 6-1 2-6 6-4 late-night defeat of Yulia Putintseva.

Gauff, the 14th seed, racked up 10 double faults and was pushed all the way by Putintseva, but served out the match after securing a third break in a tight final set.

Ons Jabeur earlier advanced into the third round at the expense of Varvara Gracheva, recovering from a second-set bagel to win 7-5 0-6 6-4.

Jabeur faces a meeting with Belinda Bencic after the Swiss dispatched Karolina Muchova 6-3 4-6 7-5.

Victoria Azarenka came from a set down to beat Tamara Zidansek 3-6 6-1 6-3 to set up a meeting with Amanda Anisimova, who also had to come from behind to dispatch Petra Martic 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Ekaterina Alexandrova and Marie Bouzkova also progressed in the Spanish capital.

Emma Raducanu will take on Iga Swiatek in an intriguing quarter-final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix but Maria Sakkari and Karolina Pliskova were eliminated. 

US Open champion Raducanu overcame Tamara Korpatsch 6-0 2-6 6-1 to set up a meeting with world number one Swiatek. 

It will be the pair's first meeting on the WTA Tour and Raducanu's maiden encounter with a top-10 opponent. 

The Briton, who is playing her first Tour-level clay-court event, won 90 per cent of points on her first serve in the opening set but that slipped to 56 per cent as she opened the door to a comeback in the second. 

However, Raducanu rediscovered her composure in the decider and got over the line after an hour and 39 minutes.

Fourth seed Sakkari retired while 6-4 3-1 down to home hope Laura Siegemund, who will take on Liudmila Samsonova after she bested Pliskova 6-4 6-4. 

Paula Badosa came through a third-set tie-break to beat Elena Rybakina 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-4) and Aryna Sabalenka put a spanner in the works of Bianca Andreescu's comeback by taking their match 6-1 3-6 6-2. 

Ons Jabeur beat Daria Kasatkina and Anett Kontaveit eventually ousted Ekaterina Alexandrova in a tie-break finale after surrendering the first set.

At the Istanbul Cup, third seed Veronika Kudermetova was granted a walkover against Ana Bogdan.  

Seeds Ajla Tomljanovic (6) and Sara Sorribes Tormo (7) got past Lesia Tsurenko and Varvara Gracheva respectively, while there were also wins for Yulia Putintseva and Anastasia Potapova. 

Karolina Pliskova believes Ash Barty could return to tennis following her surprise retirement in March, but the Czech acknowledged she could not relate to the decision as she "likes the game too much".

Barty became just the second player to call quits on their playing career when ranked as world number one, after Justine Henin, with a shock announcement last month.

The 25-year-old cited a lack of "physical drive and emotional want" to compete despite claiming her second grand slam title at the Australian Open just two months before.

However, just as Henin did after retiring, former world number one Pliskova has a feeling that Barty, who defeated her in the 2021 Wimbledon final, may also return to the court in future.

"I was shocked because I'm not really on Twitter because I don't want to get too much information for myself," Pliskova told the WTA on Barty's retirement.

"But somebody messaged me and said, 'Oh, did you see the news?' It was 11:00 in the evening in Miami. I was like, 'No, no, did somebody cry again or something?' They said, 'No, no, Ashleigh, she stopped.' I'm like, 'No way, that's not possible. Tell me the reason.' 

"I understand everybody's different. For me, it's not understandable at all because I just like the game so much. But I understand somebody maybe suffers, somebody doesn't like to travel.

"She basically won everything that she wanted to win, I suppose maybe she had no motivation. If you hate this tennis life and it's not what you always wanted to do, I think it's good to stop. 

"But I was surprised and shocked. I thought she was a really good number one for our sport and she was there for a while. Of course now, Iga [Swiatek] is a really good player, but I just thought Ashleigh was a good person and she had good charisma. I'm going to miss her. 

"But you never know. I think maybe she's going to come back. And then she's just going to be 27."

Meanwhile, Pliskova is focusing on her comeback as she continues to recover from a freak gym accident that resulted in a broken arm, which delayed the start of her new campaign by two months.

The 30-year-old, who has reached two major finals, made an encouraging return as she defeated Ukraine's Katarina Zavatska at Charleston Open but fell to Ekaterina Alexandrova on Friday.

"It was tough because people who follow tennis or me, they know I don't really have injuries," she added. "Even if I feel something, I still play. I never skip anything, not even practice or a tournament.

"The only break I had was this Covid break and I don't think that helped me. This injury was a bit more serious because I could not use my arm. I had a cast for a month or two. So it was quite a difficult time.

"I think things are going quite well. I just try to take the positives out of it, that I'm able to play after a couple months. It's been too long for me because with the offseason together, I missed four or five months.

"I know I'm not the player which can have five months at home and then I come in and win a tournament. I need some time to go through the feelings and the matches. I know it's going to take time, but just happy to be back."

Iga Swiatek has revealed she was "crying for 40 minutes" when she discovered Ash Barty had retired and the Polish sensation has felt "a range of emotions" after becoming world number one.

Barty sensationally called time on her career at the age of 25 last month.

The Australian quit while she was at the top of the rankings and on the back of winning her home grand slam for the first time at Melbourne Park in January.

Swiatek on Monday became Poland's first world number one and the 20-year-old could be hard to dislodge, as she is on a 17-match winning run.

The 2020 French Open champion became the youngest woman to win the Sunshine Double on Saturday when she beat Naomi Osaka in the Miami Open final after being crowned champion at Indian Wells.

Swiatek was in tears after finding out that Barty had ended her playing days and it soon sunk in that she would officially become the best player in the world.

She told BBC Sport: "I was crying for 40 minutes. Mainly, it was because of Ash's retirement. I didn't know it was going to happen and it really surprised me.

"I always had this vision that we would all play until we are 35 or something, until our bodies are so tired that we can't anymore.

"I needed time to actually understand what she must have thought. Her decision was really brave and I felt a lot of emotions because of that."

She added: "I also felt emotional because of my own position.

"I realised after two hours of being really emotional that 'hey, you don't know what is going to happen yet and you still have to win some matches'.

"So I told myself 'let's wait with the emotions and with being excited because I have work to do'."

Swiatek won the Qatar Open before claiming another two prestigious titles in the United States and the Warsaw native says the manner in which she has dominated has taken her by surprise.

"Emotionally it has been really intense and I have felt a range of emotions – from being proud and having satisfaction, to confusion and surprise," she said.

"These last weeks showed me I can trust in myself a little bit more and trust my skills and my tennis. Before I didn't really know it was possible for me to have a streak like that. So it also kind of surprised me.

"After Doha and after Indian Wells I didn't have time to digest what I've achieved. Right now I am going to take some time to analyse what happened from a 'work' point of view."