SINGAPORE: Serena Williams rebounded from the worst beating of her professional career to rout Eugenie Bouchard 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Finals on Thursday, yet her title defence remains in the balance.

Serena was humbled by Simona Halep the previous day, when the 18-time Grand Slam champion won only two games.

She turned around and eliminated Bouchard from semi-finals contention with a 0-3 record in the round-robin stage, while Serena improved to 2-1.

Serena lost the first game but then grabbed 11 in a row, including an ace recorded at 205 kilometres (127.4 miles) an hour in the second set, not far off Sabine Lisicki’s world record.

The American will have to wait until Friday’s final Red Group match between Halep and Ana Ivanovic to know if she is through to the semis. Serena will make the final four unless Ivanovic manages to beat Halep in straight sets. Halep is guaranteed of a semi-final berth.

“Well, my fate really rests on me,” said Serena. “If I wanted to win and be a part of the event, I should have won my match yesterday or should have done better.”

The outcome of the White Group remains uncertain, with none of the four players qualified for the semis, and none out of contention.

Maria Sharapova slumped 6-3, 6-2 to Petra Kvitova as both her title hopes, and her chances of overtaking Serena and finishing the year as world number one, receded dramatically.

The Russian superstar, also beaten in her opener against Caroline Wozniacki, still has a slim mathematical chance of finishing number one but has to go on and win the title — and has to rely on other results to go her way just to reach the semis.

Sharapova needs to win her last match against Agnieszka Radwanska and rely on Caroline Wozniacki beating Kvitova, and have both matches decided in straight sets.

Wozniacki edged closer to booking her place in the semi-finals with an impressive 7-5, 6-3 win over Radwanska.

The only way Wozniacki can miss out on the semis is if she loses her final group match to Kvitova in straight sets and Radwanska beats Sharapova in two sets.

The 24-year-old Kvitova lost her opening match to Radwanska but was in much better form against Sharapova and is excited about her chances of surviving.

“I knew that I have a game to beat Maria,” she said. “Everything I did today was really good, and I’m glad that I beat her and I have still a chance to go in the semi-finals.”

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014