Caroline Wozniacki stood her ground in the face of some testing early pressure before pulling away from Karolina Pliskova to eke out a 7-6 (9), 6-3 victory in a captivating semi-final showdown at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

The victory, completed in four minutes under two hours, was built on the Dane’s resilience, consistency and greater variation on the key points, and put the 27-year-old into her second final in the eight-woman event. Having lost to Kim Clijsters in 2010, Wozniacki faces Venus Williams this time.

“That was a little bit crazy,” Wozniacki told BT Sport of her hard-fought victory over Pliskova. “At 6-1 in the tie-break I feel kind of good about myself out there and then all of a sudden she just started hitting winners everywhere and then I started not feeling so good about myself.

“It was kind of a rollercoaster and I’m just happy that I got that first set under my belt. I think it was really important for both of us. I’ve been playing really great tennis this week and to be in the final here means a lot to me. It feels great.”

Wozniacki goes on to meet Williams, who beat Caroline Garcia in the second semi-final, while Pliskova is left to rue a defeat that prevents her from being able to replace Romania’s Simona Halep as world No1.

“We have had a lot of close matches this year and I was hoping today was my turn,” Wozniacki added.

Both players had raced out of the blocks in their previous three matches in Singapore but perhaps mindful of what was at stake, they made a cagey start to their semi-final, unable to stamp any sort of authority on proceedings.

Pliskova was the aggressor and found more success when she committed to her attacking shots, while Wozniacki was content to use her court coverage and stonewall defence to stay in touch.

The first five games went with serve until the Czech edged ahead by instigating a run of four straight breaks of serve as Wozniacki staved off three set points in the 10th game to stay alive in the set and eventually forced a tie-break.

The Dane then surged into a 6-1 lead before Pliskova fought back to first save all five set points and then go on to fashion three more of her own, which Wozniacki somehow managed to survive.

Wozniacki continued to cover every inch of the court to set up another set point, her sixth, with more defensive brilliance, and the former No1 sealed the opener 11-9 in the tie-break when Pliskova found the net with a backhand.

The Dane was full of confidence and attempted to break free with an early break in the second set to move 3-1 ahead but Pliskova refused to buckle and stormed back by stepping in to take her shots early to get the contest back on serve.

Wozniacki changed tactics again, however, and opted to push the ball into the corners to force Pliskova into some vital errors as she struggled out of position and the Dane broke once more for a 5-3 lead. This time there would be no way back for Pliskova as Wozniacki sent a backhand crosscourt winner past her stranded opponent to storm into the final.

Wozniacki will face Williams in the final after the American came from a set down to beat France’s Garcia in a match lasting a minute shy of two and a half hours.

Garcia took the opening set on a tie-break but Williams hit back to take the next two and seal a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 victory, the 37-year-old recovering from 0-40 down to serve out the match. Garcia was left to rue the fact that she converted just one of her 13 break points.

Kyle Edmund was left to regret a costly lapse in concentration as he lost to France’s Lucas Pouille in the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. The British No3, playing in a tournament won by Andy Murray last year, took the opening set on a tie-break but Pouille hit back to win a hard-fought contest 6-7 (7) 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 17 minutes.

Pouille had to save six break points in the opening set before racing into a 4-0 lead in the tie-break, the 23-year-old producing a brilliant backhand return winner down the line and benefiting from a double fault from his opponent.

Edmund refused to throw in the towel and saved two set points before taking the tie-break 9-7 to move within a set of reaching his first final at ATP World Tour level.

However, the 22-year-old promptly dropped his serve at the start of the second to allow Pouille back into the match and two more breaks in the decider sealed the outcome.

Martina Hingis bows out with doubles semi-final defeat

Martina Hingis ended her career on a losing note when she and her partner, Chan Yung-jan, were beaten 6-4, 7-6 (5) by Timea Babos and Andrea Hlavackova in the WTA Finals doubles semi-finals in Singapore.

Hingis announced on Thursday that she was retiring for a third and final time following this week’s event, bringing an end to an illustrious career that included 25 grand slam wins – five in singles, 20 in doubles – including the Wimbledon women’s title in 1997.

Hingis was seeking a fourth WTA Finals doubles crown after two triumphs with Anna Kournikova and one with Sania Mirza, but Babos and Hlavackova proved too strong at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Hungarian-Czech duo edged a high-quality opening set but were given an almighty scare when Babos tumbled to the ground at 5-5 in the second set while trailing 30-0, twisting her left ankle and requiring a lengthy medical break for treatment.

Both pairs remained strong on serve to send the contest into a tiebreak and the top seeds were beaten when Hingis sent a backhand long on the first match point to end her own career.

“I’m sure we both wish for a better ending, but they were just too good,” Hingis said. “We tried to really give it a great fight. A lot of things were working against us, whether it was the lets or the calls.

“We can’t be too disappointed about it. We still had an awesome year. Winning nine titles, going all the way, coming here, I think we can be still very proud.”

Despite the defeat, Hingis will go out on at least one high after the WTA confirmed on Friday that she and Chan had secured the year-end No1 ranking in women’s doubles after the pair won nine titles this year, including the US Open.