Leylah Fernandez and Diana Shnaider set up Pan Pacific Open final clash in Tokyo

Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez defeated lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo. According to WTA Tennis, the match lasted 1 hour and 54 minutes. Fernandez finished the semifinal with 41 winners, 20 unforced errors, nine aces, and won 14 of 20 points at the net. She overcame an early deficit in both sets and won six of the final seven games in the second set. In Sunday's title match, Fernandez will face third-seeded Diana Shnaider. Shnaider defeated 18-year-old wild card Mia Pohankova 6-4, 7-6 (7) in 1 hour and 46 minutes. Shnaider saved a set point when Pohankova led 6-5 in the second-set tiebreak, winning four of the final five points to reach her first final of 2026. Shnaider landed 72% of her first serves, won 80% of those points, and broke Pohankova twice.

Context

Pan Pacific Open tennis matches test players on hard courts during the competitive autumn tennis season in Asia. Diana Shnaider leads her head-to-head series against Leylah Fernandez 3-2, having won their past three meetings in straight sets.