MOSCOW (AP) Top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova beat ninth-seeded Hungarian Timea Babos 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup on Thursday to remain on course to claim the final spot in the WTA Finals.
Kuznetsova will qualify for next week's eight-player finals in Singapore only if she wins the Moscow tournament. Otherwise, the place will go to Britain's Johanna Konta.
The Russian jumped to a 3-0 lead over Babos in the final set and converted on her first match point.
In the semifinals, Kuznetsova will meet fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who eased past Croatia's Ana Konjuh 6-1, 6-1.
In other quarterfinal matches, Daria Gavrilova played seventh-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and Daria Kasatkina faced Julia Goerges later Thursday.