Elina Svitolina and Roberta Vinci advance to the semifinals at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China on Friday (6th November).

The eighth-seeded Elina Svitolina took on Carla Suarez Navarro for a spot in the semifinals of the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, China on Friday.

The number two seed from Spain claimed the marathon 80-minute first set 7-6 before Svitolina got the second set back 6-1 by saving four of six break points.

The 21-year-old Ukrainian completed the comeback 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-3 and advanced to the semifinals.

She will face third-seeded Karolina Pliskova on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Roberta Vinci faced Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Group D - the Italian already qualified for the semifinals after Caroline Wozniacki retired against Svetlana Kuznetsova and pulled out of the tournament.

But Schmiedlova defeated fourth-seeded Vinci in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.

Vinci now faces top-seeded Venus Williams in the semifinals.

If the American wins the title she will return to the top 10 for the first time in more than four years.

And in Group A, seventh-seeded Madison Keys wrapped up a straightforward win against Chinese wild-card entry Zheng Saisai 6-3, 6-2