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Venus Williams gained revenge for her Wimbledon final defeat by Garbine Muguruza when the American advanced to the last four of the WTA Finals with a gutsy 7-5, 6-4 victory over the Spanish world number two on Thursday.
Williams won the WTA Finals in 2008 and reached the final in 2009, which was the last time she appeared in the year-end tournament.
Venus Williams of the United States in action during her group stage match against Spain's Garbine Muguruza, October 26, 2017. /Reuters Photo
Williams, who first reached the No. 1 ranking in February 2002, was asked how she has managed to have such a long career.
"I use a lot of sun protection, sunscreen. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables," Williams said. "That's been the key to my success."
The victory enabled Williams to advance along with pool winner Karolina Pliskova, who won her first two matches but ended round-robin play with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Jelena Ostapenko earlier on Thursday.
The Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova in action during her group stage match with Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, October 26, 2017. /Reuters Photo
Ostapenko ended her maiden WTA Finals campaign on a winning note with a surprisingly easy victory over a subdued Pliskova, the Latvian saving her best until last after she was eliminated earlier in the week.
World number three Pliskova won her opening two matches against Williams and Muguruza to book a semi-final berth but the Czech was out-gunned by an inspired French Open champion in 66 minutes.
Caroline Wozniacki has already advanced from the Red Group with one round of matches remaining, while Simona Halep, Caroline Garcia and Elina Svitolina can all still qualify alongside the Dane when play concludes in that pool on Friday.
(AP&REUTERS)
