She was the last one to reach the main draw of the WTA finals and she’s surviving in Singapore until the last moment of the tournament. Yes, it is Elina Svitolina who battled past Kiki Bertens to reach one of her biggest major finals at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals. Svitolina will play Sloane Stephens in the final of the WTA finals in Singapore. She tussled for three to achieve a spot in the finals. She dismayed Bertens 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 in the semifinals in Singapore. The ladies played the longest match in Singapore this week, extending their match for two hours and 38 minutes. The Ukrainian wrapped up the first set with a lead by one break. Later Bertens pushed the semifinal encounter to the decider. The Dutchwoman slammed 41 winners and seven aces, however, Svitolina wrestled to reach the finals at Singapore.

“It was such a tough battle today and I’m very happy I could win in the end. It means a lot to me,” Svitolina said after the match. “I think physically, in the end, it was just about running and chasing every ball down. I think the level was very tough and we were both playing very good tennis. I’m very pleased that I could stay in the match and close it.”

The 25-year-old American, Sloane Stephens outplayed Karolina Pliskova in the other semifinal. Stephens after a poor start exponentially gained momentum in the last two sets of the match. The Czech won first eight games of the match against Stephens. The break of serve at the third game of the second set happened to be a twirling juncture of the match. Stephens wrapped up her victory in almost two hours. “She was playing great tennis at the beginning and I just could not get a dent in her,” Stephens said. “I just stuck to it and it was amazing to get the win”. Looking upon the finals between Stephens and Svitolina, the American said, “It will be a great match, there is a reason she is in the final. I have had a great week and hopefully I can finish off in the right way.”