Diana Shnaider and Leylah Fernandez entered Semifinal Saturday as favorites to reach the Tokyo final, and both delivered. Shnaider defeated 18-year-old wild card Mia Pohankova 6-4, 7-6 (7) in 1 hour and 46 minutes, after Fernandez earned a 7-5, 6-3 win over lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova in 1 hour and 54 minutes.

While both players advanced in straight sets, neither victory was straightforward.

Shnaider found herself one point from a deciding set when Pohankova moved ahead 6-5 in the second-set tiebreak. The No. 3 seed responded by winning four of the final five points to reach her first final of 2026.

"It's never easy on this stage, one step away from the final," Shnaider said in her on-court interview. "She's definitely a special talent at 18 years old. For sure a future career ahead of her. But yeah, very happy to be in the first final of my season and definitely special to achieve it here."

After a season-long race, the world's top players converge in the California desert with the WTA's biggest title still to be won.

Fernandez, meanwhile, faced an early deficit in both sets but rallied each time. From 2-0 down in the second, she won six of the final seven games to improve to 14-3 during the Asian Swing and record her 16th win in her last 20 WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz matches. 

One of those three losses came against Rakhimova in a three-setter in Beijing.

"She beat me three weeks ago," Fernandez said in her on-court interview. "She played an incredible match then, and she still played an incredible match now. So I'm just happy with the way that I stayed composed, at least for the most part, and of course used the energy from the crowd to help me."

Fernandez will look to draw on that same energy Sunday when she takes her place on Center Court for her third final of 2026, all coming within the past two months.