Former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin is in the final of the WTA tournament in Tokyo

TOKYO (AP) — Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin reached the Pan Pacific Open final on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over ninth-seeded Katie Boulter.

Kenin, who won the Australian Open in 2020 and was a finalist at the French Open the same year, broke the British player’s serve in the seventh game of the second set and the American tapped out Win the match for their best tournament performance of the season.

Later ranked No. 1 and Olympic champion in Paris Gold medalist Zheng Qinwen was scheduled to play Diana Shnaider for a spot in Sunday’s final against Kenin.

The 25-year-old Kenin was ranked No. 4 at the start of 2020, but a series of injuries, including ankle and quadriceps problems, caused her WTA ranking to fall to its current 155th.

Boulter, who is ranked 33rd, had not lost a set at the hard-court tournament in Tokyo.

Kenin beat Boulter the only time they ever played, but that was when Boulter retired in the second set due to injury, trailing 4-1 to Kenin after losing the first set in Acapulco in 2019.

Boulter defeated 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the quarterfinals on Friday.

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