Sofia Kenin was already in the semifinals in the doubles competition at the Pan Pacific Open.
Now the American will be pulling double duty.
Kenin reached the semifinals of the singles competition at the hard court tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 3 seed Daria Kasatkina at Ariake Coliseum on Friday.
¡°I knew it was going to be a tough match,¡± Kenin said. ¡°I just (tried) to play my game, and I¡¯m obviously happy with the result.¡±
Kenin¡¯s victory over Kasatkina, who is ninth in the world rankings, was her second win over a Top 10 player this year. She also reached her first semifinal since last year¡¯s Guadalajara Open.
The American wild card will face Britain¡¯s Katie Boulter in the first singles semifinal on Saturday afternoon. She will return to the court later in the day to team up with fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in their semifinal against Japan¡¯s Ena Shibahara and German Laura Siegemund.
Local hope Sayaka Ishii, the last Japanese player in the singles draw, pulled out of her semifinal against Diana Shnaider with an abdominal injury.
¡°I¡¯m very sad to have to withdraw from the Toray Pan Pacific Open,¡± she said in a statement. ¡°It has been my best tournament so far in my career. Unfortunately, I have a physical issue that I just don¡¯t have time to heal.¡±
The 19-year-old Ishii, the daughter of former NPB player Takuro Ishii, was competing in the main draw at a WTA event for the second time and earned her first win on tour when she defeated Sara Saito in the first round on Tuesday.
She required a medical timeout for an abdominal issue during her second-round win over Zeynep Sonmez on Wednesday before Friday¡¯s withdrawal.
Shnaider will face top-seeded Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals. Zheng defeated Leylah Fernandez 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 in their quarterfinal match.
Boulter reached the semifinals with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 showing against Canadian Bianca Andreescu that took just over an hour. Boulter, who dropped only three games against Andreescu, a former U.S. Open winner, is trying to win her third title of the season.
She will face her second consecutive Grand Slam winner in Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.
The pair have met once in the past, with Kenin winning after Boulter retired during the second set of their match in the round of 16 at the Mexican Open in 2019.
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