Daria Kasatkina highlights social media abuse after reaching the semifinals at the WTA Elite Trophy

ZHUHAI, China (AP) — Daria Kasatkina highlighted the social media abuse she has received after becoming the first player to reach the semifinals of WTA Elite Trophy on Thursday.

The sixth-seeded Kasatkina beat 11th-seeded Magda Linette 6-3, 6-4. Kasatkina said the abuse is " completely out of control," and she posted on social media an image showing some of the harmful messages she had received.

Kasatkina beat top-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in her first round-robin match in the Azalea group of the second-tier postseason event. Krejcikova and Linette have been eliminated.

Third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko rallied to beat Donna Vekic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to win her opening match in the Orchid group, a result which eliminated the 10th-seeded Croatian.

Ostapenko will next play Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, who beat Vekic in her first match, to decide who advances as group winner.

Fourth-seeded Liudmila Samsonova overcame a first set stumble to defeat Chinese wild-card entry Zhu Lin 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the Rose Group. The Russian can secure a semifinal spot if she wins her second round-robin match over Veronika Kudermetova on Friday.

The 12-player tournament is the first postseason event on the women’s tour. It features the 11 highest-ranked singles players who did not qualify for next month's WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico. Zhu, ranked 37th, is the final entry as a wild-card.

The players are divided into four groups of three with the winner of each group advancing to Saturday's semifinals. The final is scheduled for Sunday.

___

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis