Ivanovic moves to 2-0 in Tournament of Champions group

SOFIA, Bulgaria, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- No. 2-seeded Ana Ivanovic won Thursday and moved into prime position to advance to the semifinals of the WTA's Tournament of Championships in Bulgaria.

Ivanovic, looking for her third ToC title in the last four years, improved to 2-0 in Group B play with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Samantha Stosur. Ivanovic had a pair of breaks in the first set and three more in the third in the win.

While she leads the group, Ivanovic is yet to lock up a spot in the semifinals. A win Friday over fifth-seeded Elena Vesnina would do that, however.

Vesnina and Stosur are tied at 1-1 in the group. Tsvetana Pironkova, seeded eighth, is 0-2 going into her final round-robin match against Stosur.

Vesnina defeated Pironkova 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 Thursday. Vesnina took just less than half -- 44-of-90 -- of the points when Pironkova served.

Thursday's play wrapped with top-seeded Simona Halep completing a Group A sweep by beating Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-1 in 47 minutes. Halep won nearly three-quarters of the points and had seven breaks off Svitolina's serve.

The other Group A spot in the semifinal will be taken by the winner of Friday's match between sixth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and seventh-seeded Alize Cornet. Both are 1-1 in the group.