Zheng beats Shnaider to reach Tokyo final

Zheng Qinwen’s sizzling Asian swing continues at the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Chinese No.1 advanced to her second consecutive Hologic WTA Tour final after defeating Diana Shnaider 7-6(5), 6-3 in the Tokyo semifinals.

Zheng has now won 27 of her last 31 matches since Wimbledon. Over that span, she won her first title of the season at the Palermo Ladies Open, captured Olympic gold, returned to the US Open quarterfinals, and made her first WTA 1000 semifinal and final at the China Open and Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open, respectively.

Zheng goes into Sunday’s final with an 11-2 record in the Asian swing this year. It will be her second straight trip to Tokyo’s Championship Sunday, after making her first career WTA final in her tournament debut two years ago.

While Tokyo has been a confirmation of Zheng’s momentum and form, it has served as a place of resurgence for 155th-ranked Kenin. The American advanced to her first final of the year after beating Katie Boulter 6-4, 6-4. The win was Kenin’s third over a Top 10 seed this week, having beaten No.10 seed Wang Xinyu and No.3 seed Daria Kasatkina.

With her run to the Tokyo final, Kenin is set to return to the Top 100 on the PIF WTA Rankings on Monday. She is bidding to win her first title in over four years, having won her last at 2020 Lyon.

Tokyo will be Zheng’s final regular season tournament before she heads to Saudi Arabia to make her tournament debut at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF.

Bidding to capture her third title of the season, Zheng will face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin for the title on Sunday.