Belgian Yanina Wickmayer will meet Poland's Magda Linette in the Japan Women's Open final after both produced upsets Saturday to continue a trend this week in Tokyo. Former US Open semi-finalist Wickmayer halted seventh seed Ajla Tomljanovic's fine run by catching the Croatian cold in a 7-5, 6-2 victory as sunshine finally graced the rain-hit tournament.
Linette, like Wickmayer also unseeded, fought back from a set down to carve out a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over sixth-seeded American Christina McHale in an absorbing semi-final. Already shorn of its top five seeds and sentimental favourite Kimiko Date-Krumm as she approaches her 45th birthday, there was almost a sense of inevitability about Tomljanovic and McHale coming up short.