Belinda Bencic on verge of WTA Finals with win at Kremlin Cup

Belinda-Bencic;-Fed-Cup

Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. (Frank Gunn/CP)

MOSCOW — Belinda Bencic is on the verge of claiming the last spot at the season-ending WTA Finals after winning her Kremlin Cup quarterfinal on Friday.

Bencic saved two set points in the opening-set tiebreak in beating Kirsten Flipkens 7-6 (8), 6-1.

The Swiss player’s hope of reaching the tour finals had earlier been given a boost when fellow contender Kiki Bertens was beaten 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 by Kristina Mladenovic.

If Bencic beats Mladenovic in the semifinals on Saturday she will secure the eighth and final place ahead of Serena Williams at the Oct. 27-Nov. 3 tournament in Shenzhen, China.

Bertens now needs at least one player to withdraw to play in the tour finals.

In the men’s Kremlin Cup draw, seventh-seeded Adrian Mannarino upset fourth-seeded Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (3), 6-1 in a quarterfinal.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.