Williams could punish slow-starting Garcia

WTA Tour Finals
BT Sport 1, 9am Saturday

The highly-regarded Caroline Garcia has performed admirably to reach the last four of the WTA Tour Finals in her debut appearance but the Frenchwoman has lost the opening set in all three of her matches in Singapore and a similarly slow start against the experienced Venus Williams is unlikely to go unpunished.

The 23-year-old admitted nerves got the better of her when going down 6-4 6-2 to Simona Halep in her Singapore curtain-raiser and she was forced to claw her way back from a set down to overcome Elina Svitolina and Carolina Wozniacki in her final two group games.

The resurgent Williams, who has reached the final of two Grand Slams this term, may not be as generous as Garcia's two previous opponents.

The American has been in blistering form all season and her comfortable 7-5 6-4 win over Garbine Muguruza in her latest outing suggests there's plenty of life left in the veteran.

World number three Karolina Pliskova tackles Caroline Wozniacki in the first semi-final and there's every chance their mouthwatering clash could go the distance.

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