Jessica

Elina Svitolina dropped just three games as she thrashed Linda Noskova to set up a WTA Finals showpiece against Mirra Andreeva.

Ukraine’s Svitolina was composed and aggressive in a 6-2 6-1 victory over Wimbledon champion Noskova in just 64 minutes.

It caps a remarkable turnaround for world number six Svitolina in Indian Wells, having suffered a heavy defeat in her opening group match against Andreeva.

However, she has shown all of her fighting spirit to win her next three matches, including snapping a six-match losing streak to Aryna Sabalenka on Friday.

Svitolina now has 11 wins over top-10 opponents this year – the most of any player on the WTA Tour.

“After losing the first match I was ready to go home, and now I’m in the final,” the 32-year-old said.

“I will do my homework with my coaches – I will try to win a bit more games than I did in the first match [against Andreeva].”

Svitolina is back in the world’s top 10 for the first time since October 2021.

She took maternity leave in May 2022 to have daughter Skai, and has made an effort to play more aggressive tennis since her return.

She returned brilliantly against Noskova, neutralising the Czech’s big serve from the first game.

Noskova was well below her best, hitting 11 double faults and committing 27 unforced errors to Svitolina’s 18.

It is the third time Svitolina has reached the final of the season-ending tournament, having lifted the trophy in 2018.

Earlier, Andreeva became the youngest player for 22 years to reach the WTA Finals showpiece with a composed victory over Jessica Pegula.

French Open champion Andreeva came back from a break down in both sets to win 6-3 6-4.

The 19-year-old Russian is the youngest finalist at the season-ending event since Maria Sharapova, who was 17 when she won the title in 2004.

Victory over American Pegula ensures Andreeva will finish the year as world number two.

“I did not feel one bit of pressure today, I don’t know why,” Andreeva told Sky Sports.

“Usually I feel like on these important points or when I have to close out the match or the set I get so tight.

“But for some reason today I was just playing. I was just not thinking about anything, just trying to enjoy.”

Tournament debutant Andreeva has yet to drop a set and has not lost more than four games in any of her eight sets.

The 18 games she has lost is the fewest for a finalist at the WTA Finals since the round-robin format was introduced in 2003.

Under the guidance of coach Conchita Martinez, Andreeva has developed her serve into a real weapon.

She won 77% of points behind her first serve and hit 17 winners to outmuscle Pegula.

Andreeva also showed impressive composure, remaining unfazed despite going an early break down in both sets against the home favourite.

Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova dismantled Coco Gauff to become the first player to reach the last four of the WTA Finals.

Czech Noskova played with controlled aggression and served brilliantly to beat the American 6-3 6-3.

World number eight Noskova was composed throughout and broke Gauff’s serve four times in the first set alone.

She sent powerful winners to all corners to outmuscle her opponent, who is one of the best movers on the WTA Tour, and committed only one unforced error in a dominant second set.

The 21-year-old fittingly sealed victory with an ace to secure a place in the semi-finals on her tournament debut.

“Thank you guys for the cheers I’m getting now – but it was a little weaker in the match, guys, I’m not going to lie,” Noskova joked to the California crowd afterwards.

“I feel like I stayed in the match through every moment, from beginning to end.”

It is a sixth top-10 victory of the season for Noskova, who won her maiden Grand Slam at Wimbledon in July.

Gauff, who won a thriller against compatriot Jessica Pegula on Sunday, had a poor day on serve.

She hit the same amount of aces and double faults – eight apiece – and won only six of 24 points behind her second serve.

Fourth-ranked Gauff can still qualify for the last four, as can Pegula.

Earlier in group one, Pegula claimed her first win since September to eliminate alternate Marta Kostyuk.

American Pegula won 6-2 7-5 in a scrappy match that saw seven breaks of serve.

Ukraine’s Kostyuk, who has been dealing with a wrist injury since August, only found out she would be playing on Saturday after world number one Elena Rybakina withdrew.

She lost her opener to Noskova on Sunday and struggled for rhythm and consistency in a low-quality match against Pegula.

Pegula made only five unforced errors to Kostyuk’s 17 as she took the first set, and the home favourite quickly went up a break in the second.

However, four breaks of serve then ensued, with Pegula eventually sealing the decisive break at 5-5 before serving out victory.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Toby Samuel fell 6-1 6-4 to world number 25 Lorenzo Musetti in the Basel Open second round.

JESSICA Alba has found herself on thin ice with fans following a massive fallout from her Halloween costume.

There has been such a backlash over her choice of outfit that the Fantastic Four actress, 45, has been forced to delete the picture of her wearing it after being called “distasteful”.

Much like the rest of the celebrity world, at the weekend Jessica Alba got into the spooky spirit and revealed her costume on social media to fans.

In a pic posted on Instagram Jessica dressed up as the famous 90s figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.

In the snap, her costume consisted of a white lace figure skating dress with a bloody bandage wrapped around her knee.

Jessica’s friend Kelly Sawyer dressed up as her rival Tonya Harding, and was wielding a baseball bat.

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Back in 1994, Nancy was famously assaulted and struck in the knee with a baseball bat right before she performed at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Tonya was blamed for having an involvement in the attack – something she denied – but she later pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder the prosecution.

Nancy’s attacker was later revealed to be Shane Stant, who was hired by Tonya’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, along with Shawn Eckhardt.

Fans found Jessica’s reference to this attack as “distasteful”, and the actress has since pulled the picture from Instagram following the backlash.

One fan said: “We expect better, Jessica.”

Another called the actress “immature”, with another commenting: “Why are we being nasty this Halloween?”

However, this fan jumped to Jessica’s defence and said: “It’s been over 30 years. Seems like a pretty tame joke at this point.”