Maria Sharapova defeats top seed Simona Halep at the WTA Finals
Thursday 29 October 2015 17:56, UK
Maria Sharapova maintained her winning start to the WTA finals by defeating top seed Simona Halep.
The Russian has shown no signs of the wrist problem that forced her out of last month's Wuhan Open and swept aside Halep 6-4 6-4 for her second win in the Red Group at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Halep, who now holds a 1-1 record in the competition, delayed Sharapova's celebrations by winning three straight games in the second set, but was crucially broken again in the 10th.
This result means that group rival Agnieszka Radwanska can still qualify, despite her 7-6 6-4 loss to Flavia Pennetta.
The Pole suffered a second successive defeat after the weekend loss to Sharapova, but US Open champion Pennetta has boosted her own hopes following an opening defeat to Halep.
Pennetta, who will retire after the tournament, used a string of backhand winners to regain control of the first set after being broken twice and hit back to force a tie-break.
The 33-year-old Italian appeared to hurt her ankle during the breaker and required a medical time out in the second set due to blisters.
But Penetta was still too strong for the visibly tiring Radwanska and sent down her 11th backhand winner to seal victory.
