Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and seventh seed Cristina McHale of the United States reached the final of the Japan Women's Open in contrasting fashion on Saturday, when the Japanese pair of Shuko Aoyama and Makoto Ninomiya won the doubles title.
Unseeded Siniakova, ranked world No. 65, overpowered sixth seed and 49th-ranked Zhang Shuai of China 6-3, 6-0.
But 53rd-ranked McHale had a grueling encounter with 115th-ranked Jana Cepelova, eventually snatching it 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 against the Slovak.