Montreal (AFP) - Australia's Daria Saville advanced to her first WTA final since 2017 on Thursday at the US Open tuneup event in Granby, Canada, while 10th-ranked Daria Kasatkina reached the semi-finals.
In quarter-final matches at the hardcourt tournament in suburban Montreal, top seed Kasatkina ousted Spanish fifth seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz 6-3, 6-2 and Saville dispatched China's Wang Xiyu 6-3, 6-0.
Kasatkina, the US Open 10th seed, learned Thursday she will start in New York against Britain's 98th-ranked Harriet Dart and could meet Parrizas Diaz again in the second round.
Before that, however, Kasatkina has a Friday semi-final in Granby against France's Diane Parry, who outlasted Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/4).
Saville advanced to a semi-final against Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk, who defeated Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
But Kostyuk pulled out of the tournament, allowing Saville to advance to Saturday's final by walkover.
It's the fifth career WTA final for Saville, but her first since Hong Kong in October 2017.
Saville won her only WTA title in August 2017 in another tuneup event the week before the US Open, taking the Connecticut Open crown.
