Tokyo Open: Kenin downs Boulter to reach final

American wildcard Sofia Kenin moved into the final of the Tokyo Open by winning against No 9 seed Katie Boulter 6-4, 6-4 at the Ariake Coliseum on Saturday.

Kenin needed only 90 minutes to overcome Boulter, who sprayed seven double faults during the match.

The American was broken once but converted three break points herself to reach her first WTA singles final in 2024, averaging 73 percent on the first serve.

Kenin, ranked No 155, will face the winner of the match between Chinese Zheng Qinwen, the top seed, and Russian Diana Shnaider, the No 6 seed, next.

“I’m just going to enjoy the moment first and tomorrow I’m gonna do my best,” Kenin said after beating Boulter on Saturday. “I’m playing some great tennis this week and got some confidence and yeah, I’ll do my best and we see what happens.”

Ahead of her victory, the American beat Chinese Xinyu Wang, the No 10 seed (6-1, 6-4), Dane lucky loser Clara Tauson (6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (6)) and Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 3 seed (6-3, 6-4).

Boulter, ranked No 33, defeated Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon (6-1, 6-4), Japanese lucky loser Kyoka Okamura (6-1, 6-2) and Canadian wildcard Bianca Andreescu (6-2, 6-1) in the previous rounds of the Tokyo tournament.

Tokyo WTA 500, other semi-final result (Ariake Coliseum, hard, USD 922.573):

• Zheng Qinwen vs. Diana Shnaider

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