VANDEWEGHE REACHES WTA ELITE TROPHY SEMIFINALS

A day after being named to Team USA’s Fed Cup squad set to compete in the final against Belarus, US Open semifinalist Coco Vandeweghe stayed in the hunt for even more silverware by punching her ticket to the semifinals of the prestigious WTA Elite Trophy.

Vandeweghe defeated Elena Vesnina of Russia, 6-3, 6-2, on Thursday to secure a place in the final four of the year-end tournament in Zhuhai, China.

The victory follows Tuesday’s win over hometown favorite Peng Shuai, in which Vandeweghe rallied from a set down for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph. 

With those two wins over the other players in the Bougainvillea round-robin group, Vandeweghe, the No. 2 overall seed, is guaranteed to top the group, regardless of what happens in the final group match between Vesnina and Peng. Click here to see the updated standings from each of the four groups.

The Californian will join fifth-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia and Australian No. 9 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinals. Julia Goerges of Germany would complete the final four lineup should she defeat top overall seed Kristina Mladenovic of France on Friday. If not, a three-way tie with Magdalena Rybarikova will be broken by sets and games won.

Vandeweghe, 25, is looking to put a cap on her most successful season yet. She pushed Venus Williams to three sets of the Australian Open semifinals in January, reached the quarterfinals in Madrid in May and Wimbledon in July and contested the US Open Series final in Stanford against fellow American Madison Keys in August. In September, Vandeweghe reached the semifinals at the US Open, propelling her to a career-high No. 12 in the world.

In addition to a fine year on the WTA tour, Vandeweghe has been instrumental in guiding Team USA to the Fed Cup finals, winning two matches against Germany in the quarterfinals and all three against the Czech Republic in the semis.
 

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Update: Vandeweghe defeated Ashleigh Barty, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the final, where she fell to Julia Goerges, 7-5, 6-1.