Second seed Jessica Pegula produced a near-flawless display to power past the resurgent Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo.
The 29-year-old American, gunning for her second title of the season following her triumph in Montreal, will take on Russian Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday.
Pegula made a blazing start to the contest with a couple of early breaks to peg back Sakkari, who has rediscovered her best form this month after claiming the Guadalajara title.
World No. 6 Sakkari found her groove late in the first set after going 5-1 down, but the 28-year-old could not stop the fourth-ranked Pegula from closing it out.
The pair traded breaks early in the second set before Pegula stepped up the pressure again, firing a sizzling forehand winner en route to a 4-2 lead.
Pegula finished the job when she forced Sakkari into making a mistake from the back of the court.
¡°The faster courts here probably help me a little more than the slower surfaces I¡¯ve played her in the past,¡± said Pegula, who beat Sakkari for the fourth time in their ninth meeting.
¡°I tried to take advantage of that.¡±
Earlier, Kudermetova outlasted former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3 in a grueling battle lasting three hours and 25 minutes to make her second final of the season.
Russian eighth seed Kudermetova, who stunned world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, sealed the victory on her fifth match point to deny Pavlyuchenkova a place in what would have been her first final since Roland Garros in 2021.
¡°Physically I feel OK. I can play another match like that,¡± said Kudermetova. ¡°Physically I¡¯m always strong. Mentally maybe sometimes not enough.
¡°But today I¡¯m really happy that I managed to win the match and to be in the final.¡±
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