Ashleigh Barty will face Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals of the season-ending showpiece in Shenzhen after the Czech world No.2 beat Simona Halep in three rollercoaster sets to reach the last four.
Pliskova overcame a mid-match collapse to cash in on Halep’s own meltdown to prevail 6-0 2-6 6-4 and finish second in the Purple Group with a 2-1 round-robin record.
Defending champion Elina Svitolina earlier on Friday made it through the group stage without dropping a set, beating alternate Sofia Kenin 7-5 7-6 (12-10) to take her record for the week to 3-0.
Svitolina, who had already qualified for the semi-finals as the winner from the Purple Group, saved two set points in the second set before finally sealing victory on her sixth match point.
The Ukrainian will next face Swiss Belinda Bencic in Saturday’s first semi-final before Barty takes on Pliskova.