Pavlyuchenkova stuns Kerber to reach final in Osaka

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova got into her first finals this year after she defeated Angelique Kerber 6-3 and 6-3 in the semifinals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

After three quarter-final matches and Naomi Osaka's victory over Elise Mertens, fans in Japan could see another two set match. Kerber was the only player who had enough time to recover after the quarterfinal match, that she played yesterday. On the other hand, Pavlyuchenkova outplayed Doi only 2 hours before she stood on the court against Kerber.

Kerber started the match better by winning the first 2 games, but then the Russian managed to win 6 games out of seven and won the first set 6-3. The second set ended with an identical result, when Pavlyuchenkova did not hesitate for a moment, winning 6-3 and advanced to the first final of this year.

Overall, she adjusted her H2H record with Kerber already to 7-7. The two experienced players played their first match in Brisbane in 2013. Pavlyuchenkova will meet Naomi Osaka in the final, who managed to beat Elise Mertens in the semifinals.

[embed]https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1175346703999950848[/embed]