H2H: Ashleigh Barty vs. Karolina Pliskova - Prediction (WTA Shenzhen

Preview and players comparison.

Both players have registered 50+ wins this season and are the only ones to have claimed titles on all surfaces. It’s the first time a world no. 1 will take on a world no. 2 in the WTA Finals since the 2012 semifinals. The pair have alternate their five encounters, with Barty edging 3-2 after winning this year’s Miami final.

Ashleigh Barty handily knocked out 2011 champion Petra Kvitova to enter the WTA Finals semifinal on her maiden singles campaign. The reigning world no. 1 registered her third consecutive win over the Czech, saving 4/4 breakpoints and firing 23 winners, including six aces, to just 18 unforced errors. Barty hopes to be just the third Australian to enter the final of the WTA Finals, following Kerry Melville Reid (1972) and Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1974, 76, 78) during the nascent years of the WTA’s foundation. She has played the semifinal of this tournament’s doubles segment, with Vandeweghe last year. Barty split her first two round-robin matches, defeating Bencic from a set deficit and losing to Alternate Bertens from a set lead. She is now set to play her third consecutive semifinal in China, following Wuhan (l. Sabalenka) and Beijing (d. Bertens). The top seed is 11-6 in career semifinals, 3-3 in this country.

Karolina Pliskova books her third consecutive semifinal appearance in the WTA Finals with a topsy-turvy win against Simona Halep on Friday. After claiming the opening set in less than 20 minutes, the Czech had to rally from a break deficit in the third to win the battle of former top-ranked players, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4. Starting her fourth campaign in the year-end championships with a straight-set loss to Svitolina, Pliskova got fortune on Wednesday with a retirement win against US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. She hopes to get third time lucky in this event, having suffered semifinal defeats to Wozniacki and Stephens. This match will be Pliskova’s fifth encounter with a reigning world no. 1 player, scripting a 2-2 showing in the previous ones — defeated Serena Williams at 2016 US Open and Simona Halep at 2018 Madrid. She bids her 28th title round appearance, and fourth one in mainland China, with a 26-14 semifinal record.