Elina Svitolina eliminates error-prone Simona Halep

SINGAPORE: Just like so many times this year, - Roland Garros title match, Wimbledon quarterfinals, US Open first round - Simona Halep's nerves failed her. This time a forehand, where she met the ball plum and crashed it to the bottom of the net. Her 19th unforced error of the last league affair of the season finale.
The 26-year-old needed a win on Friday to make the last four of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals, but a rush of errors saw Halep crash to a 3-6, 4-6 loss to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.The fourth seed was playing with no pressure and came out swinging. "100 percent this court is not for me," the Romanian, who still has a chance to finish the year No. 1said. "It's been a marathon season and I'm glad the year is over. It was a great year and I won't let this tournament ruin the year I built."
Halep's loss was the eighth-ranked Caroline Garcia's gain. Earlier, in a Red Group feature, the fresh-faced Frenchwoman beat Dane Caroline Wozniacki in a stirring comeback effort. She battled back from a set down and was trailing 2-4 and 3-5 in the decider before she pulled off a 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 win in two hours and 19 minutes to put her foot through the door.
In the semifinals, Garcia, the Red Group topper, will play American Venus Williams, while Wozniacki will go up against the third seeded Karolina Pliskova.
The 24-year-old Garcia's win put out Svitolina, but her own place in the knockout stage of the competition was dependent on Halep's outing. Garcia, who secured her place in the eight-player, season-ending field when Briton Johanna Konta withdrew from the Moscow tournament with a foot injury, has made the late season her own, displaying fighting tennis, and finishing with a flourish. She won two successive Premier tournaments -Wuhan and Beijing -to break into the top-10 for the first time in her career.
Semifinal schedule:
Not before 1.30pm: 3-Karolina Pliskova (Cze) vs 6-Caroline Wozniacki (Den) (H2H 3-5); Not before 5pm: 8-Caroline Garcia (Fra) vs 5-Venus Williams (US). (H2H 1-1).