Canada’s tennis star, Leylah Fernandez, has reached the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo after defeating Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 7-5, 6-3 in their semi-final clash on Saturday.
The world number 23 continued her impressive run on the Asian swing with the victory, having claimed her first title of the season in Singapore last month before finishing runner-up at last week’s Ningbo Open in China, where she lost to world number one Elena Rybakina.
Fernandez will face either Russia’s Diana Shnaider or Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova in the final as she targets her seventh career title on the WTA Tour.
The Canadian secured her place in the semi-finals after Rybakina withdrew from their quarter-final encounter due to a neck injury.
The withdrawal came a day after the Kazakh secured the year-end world number one ranking.
Rakhimova, ranked 66th in the world, had initially failed to qualify for the Tokyo main draw but gained entry as a lucky loser and progressed to the semi-finals.
The Uzbek was hoping to reach her first WTA Tour final but struggled to overcome Fernandez’s impressive form, with the Canadian recording nine aces during the encounter.
Despite losing an early break in the opening set, Fernandez fought back to level the contest before taking control.
Rakhimova also secured an early break in the second set, but the Canadian recovered again to seal victory in just under two hours.
