A battle-worn Shnaider meets a fresher Fernandez in the Tokyo final

Diana Shnaider has fought through long matches all week in Tokyo, while Leylah Fernandez skipped a quarterfinal she never had to play. The two meet in Sunday’s final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, a WTA 500. On Saturday, Shnaider beat Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova 6-4, 7-6(7) and Fernandez beat Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 7-5, 6-3.

Shnaider, the Russian third seed and world No. 13, built her semifinal win on her first serve. She won 80% of her first-serve points, 45 of 56, against 69% for Pohankova, who served three aces to Shnaider’s none. Shnaider saved five of the six break points she faced and converted two of her six chances. She took the second set in a tie-break, 9-7, finishing the match in an hour and 49 minutes.

Fernandez, the unseeded Canadian ranked No. 30, needed an hour and 54 minutes to get past Rakhimova. Her route to the final: a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sakatsume in the first round, then a 6-2, 7-6(8) win over fifth seed Elise Mertens. She reached the semifinals without hitting a ball after top seed Elena Rybakina withdrew from their quarterfinal with a neck injury.

Shnaider’s road was far longer. She beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in the round of 16, then came from a set down to beat eighth seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Afterward, she said that match deserved to be a final and praised the level of tennis from both players.