Kerber has qualified for the WTA Finals twice before – she played in Istanbul in 2012 and 2013.
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Jankovic prevailed 6-4 7-5 in a tight match to set up a Sunday showdown with Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who proved too strong for Australia’s Sam Stosur.
“Playing against Venus is never an easy task”.
Fourth-seeded Jankovic was helped by a wayward opponent whose usually strong serve deserted her. Williams also failed to take her chances, only converting two of 16 break points in the match.
Former world No.1s Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic will face off in the other last-four encounter for a place in the final, with Kerber awaiting the victor.
Angelique Kerber insists she is only focused on winning the Hong Kong Open and is not concerned about the end-of-season WTA Finals. “Excellent performance for the German tennis player, who hasno” given anything to her opponent, and she was solid from the baseline and aggressive on attack. “It doesn’t matter who I play against”.
“I’m happy with the way I played, though, and I’m really happy I was able to beat her tonight”.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday defeated Serbian qualifier Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-3 at the Generali Ladies Linz to advance to her third semi-final of the season.
The last seeded player left in the event, Pavlyuchenkova dropped serve once, at 5-2 in the second set, but broke back immediately to wrap up the win.
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Watson took the first set and went 3-1 up in the second in their quarter-final match, before the Australian turned on the power and took it 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
