ZHUHAI, China — Daria Kasatkina highlighted the social media abuse she has received after becoming the first player to reach the semifinals of WTA Elite Trophy on Thursday.
The sixth-seeded Kasatkina beat 11th-seeded Magda Linette 6-3, 6-4. She then posted on X to say she won her match but the abuse she gets “is completely out of control.”
She included an image showing some of the abusive messages she had received.
Kasatkina beat top-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in her first round-robin match in the Azalea group of the second-tier postseason event. Krejcikova and Linette have been eliminated.
Third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko rallied to beat Donna Vekic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win her opening match in the Orchid group, a result which eliminated the 10th-seeded Croatian.
Ostapenko will next play Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, who beat Vekic in her first match, to decide who advances as group winner.
Later Thursday, fourth-seeded Liudmila Samsonova was to play her first match of the tournament against Chinese wild card Zhu Lin.
The 12-player tournament is the first postseason event on the women’s tour. It features the 11 highest-ranked singles players who did not qualify for next month’s WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico. Zhu, ranked 37th, is the final entry as a wild-card.
The players are divided into four groups of three with the winner of each group advancing to Saturday’s semifinals. The final is scheduled for Sunday.