The key facts

  • Kamilla Rakhimova lost the Tokyo tournament semifinal to Leylah Fernandez 5:7, 3:6
  • Rakhimova came through qualifying, entered the main draw as a lucky loser and reached the semifinal
  • Fernandez will face Diana Shnaider or Maja Pohankova in the final

Rakhimova came within one step of her first WTA final

Uzbek tennis player Kamilla Rakhimova, ranked 66th in the world, lost in the semifinal of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to Canada's Leylah Fernandez 5:7, 3:6, AFP reports. The match lasted just under two hours.

How the match unfolded

Fernandez, ranked 23rd in the world, dropped her serve early in the first set, but immediately broke back and gradually turned the match in her favor. In the second set Rakhimova also led with a break, but the Canadian once again fought back and closed out the match with nine aces. For Rakhimova, it was an attempt to reach a WTA tournament final for the first time in her career.

Rakhimova's path to the semifinal

Notably, Rakhimova was eliminated in the qualifying rounds but entered the main draw as a lucky loser — and then went on to reach the semifinal. Her semifinal opponent is in excellent form: last month Fernandez won her first title of the season in Singapore, and last week she reached the final of the Ningbo Open in China, where she lost to world No. 1 Elena Rybakina. In Tokyo, however, Fernandez advanced to the quarterfinals due to Rybakina's withdrawal with a neck injury — the latter pulled out a day after securing the year-end No. 1 ranking.

What's next

In the Pan Pacific Open final, Fernandez will face either Russian Diana Shnaider or Slovakian Maja Pohankova. For the Canadian, it is a chance to claim her seventh WTA tour title.