ZHUHAI, China - Despite ending her season with a victory, France's Caroline Garcia sent Ashleigh Barty through to the semifinals at the Hengqin Life WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, as she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final match of the Orchid Group on Friday, 6-4, 6-4.

Garcia needed a straight sets victory to keep her hopes of qualifying for the semifinals alive, but she needed to lose less than seven games to advance to the semfinals herself.

Trailing 6-4, 5-3, Sabalenka earned herself a hold and a key eighth game of the match, sending Barty through to the semifinals.

The Aussie advances thanks to her head-to-head victory over Garcia on Wednesday, and reaches the semifinals in Zhuhai for the second straight year.

"I wanted to win today, but I was not really thinking about qualifying for the semifinal. I don't know how it will be if we were both winning 6-4, 6-4 actually," Garcia said.

"I'm happy with the win today. It was a good match. I played Aryna two times already this year and I lost both times in three-set battle. I played solid. It was much better than yesterday. So it's still a win, but, of course, it's disappointment to finish third."

More to come...