WTA roundup: Anisimova upsets Zhang Shuai at Hiroshima semis

American Amanda Anisimova advanced to the first WTA final of her career with a 7-6 (4), 7-5 upset of China's Zhang Shuai on Saturday at the Japan Women's Open in Hiroshima. Anisimova was facing the top-seeded Shuai in her maiden semifinal. She rallied from 3-1 down to win the first set in a tiebreaker and broke Shuai's serve twice in the second to claim victory in 1 hour, 48 minutes. Anisimova, 17, is the youngest player to make a final since Croatia's Donna Vekic played in two (Tashkent 2012, Birmingham 2013) at 16 years old. Her opponent in the final will be second-seeded Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan. Hsieh completed a suspended quarterfinal victory over No. 5 Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia before defeating fourth-seeded Qiang Wang of China 6-4, 6-4. Coupe Banque Nationale American qualifier Jessica Pegula rallied past fifth-seeded compatriot Sofia Kenin 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to her first career final at Quebec City. Fresh off an upset of second-seeded Croatian Petra Martic, the 24-year-old Pegula struck 10 aces and broke the 19-year-old Kenin's serve five times in the last two sets to get the win in 1 hour, 58 minutes. Pegula's opponent on Sunday will be eight-seeded Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier, who also was forced to rally to be Great Britain's Heather Watson 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Parmentier struck 10 aces in the win. --Field Level Media