Tokyo: Kenin upsets Kasatkina to reach first semi-final of the year

American wildcard Sofia Kenin beat Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 3 seed, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Toray Pan Pacific Open Open at the Ariake Coliseum on Friday.

Kenin, ranked No 155, will face No 9 seed Katie Boulter in the first semi-final of the 2024 season for the former Australian Open champion. She owns a 1-0 career record against the Brit, with their only previous meeting coming in 2019.

The American started the year ranked inside the world’s top 40 but has dropped to No 155 in the latest rankings. Her run this week should put her just outside the top 100 in next week’s rankings and she could climb higher if she progresses to the final.

Kenin won against Chinese Xinyu Wang, the No 10 seed (6-1, 6-4) and edged out Dane lucky loser Clara Tauson (6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (6)) ahead of her win today. Today’s win marked her 12th career win over a top 10 ranked player.

Earlier in the week, Kasatkina, ranked No 9, won against American McCartney Kessler (3-6, 6-3, 6-1). The Russian was on a five-match winning streak after winning the Ningbo Open title last week. SHe has been confirmed as one of the two alternates for the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Tokyo WTA 500, other quarter-final matches (Ariake Coliseum, hard, USD 922,573):

• Katie Boulter beat Bianca Andreescu (WC): 6-2, 6-1
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Diana Shnaider vs. Sayaka Ishii

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