Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin advances to the WTA tournament final in Tokyo

TOKYO (AP) — Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin has advanced to the final of the Pan Pacific Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over ninth-seeded Katie Boulter on Saturday.

Kenin, who won the Australian Open in 2020 and was a French Open finalist the same year, broke the British player's serve in the seventh game of the second set and the American served out to win the match for her best tournament performance of the season.

Kenin will play No. 1 seed and Paris Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen. who beat Diana Shnaider 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the other semifinal.

The 25-year-old Kenin was ranked as high as No. 4 early in 2020, but a series of injuries, including ankle and quadricep ailments, has seen her WTA ranking drop to its current 155.

Boulter, ranked 33rd, had not lost a set during the Tokyo hard-court tournament.

Kenin beat Boulter in the only other time they have played but it was when Boulter retired with an injury in the second set while trailing 4-1 to Kenin after losing the first set in Acapulco in 2019.

Boulter beat 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu on Friday in the quarterfinals.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

China's Zheng Qinwen plays against Russia's Diana Shnaider during the second semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

China's Zheng Qinwen plays against Russia's Diana Shnaider during the second semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Russia's Diana Shnaider plays against China's Zheng Qinwen during the second semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

China's Zheng Qinwen plays against Russia's Diana Shnaider during the second semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Sofia Kenin of the United States reacts after winning her semifinal match against Britain's Katie Boulter in the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Sofia Kenin of the United States prepares to serve as she plays against Britain's Katie Boulter during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Britain's Katie Boulter plays against Sofia Kenin of the United States during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Sofia Kenin of the United States plays against Britain's Katie Boulter during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Britain's Katie Boulter reacts as she plays against Sofia Kenin of the United States during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Sofia Kenin of the United States plays against Britain's Katie Boulter during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Britain's Katie Boulter plays against Sofia Kenin of the United States during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Sofia Kenin of the United States plays against Britain's Katie Boulter during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Sofia Kenin of the United States, right, and Britain's Katie Boulter greet each other after Sofia won the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women's tennis tournament at Ariake Coliseum, in Tokyo, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

MONTREAL (AP) — After receiving their first wake-up call of the playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes have responded like the beasts of the East they have been all season.

Following a loss to open the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes have won back-to-back games in overtime to take a 2-1 lead against Montreal in the best-of-seven series. They look like their old selves again, and it has them two games from reaching to the Stanley Cup Final.

“We’re feeling good about playing hockey again,” said winger Taylor Hall, who scored his fourth goal this postseason in Game 3 on Monday night. “Now the game is starting to slow down, and you’re making reads without even having to think about it.”

That spells trouble for the Canadiens, who registered just two shots on goal combined over the third period and OT. Carolina has outshot Montreal 64-26 over the past two games.

“They throw a lot to the net, so they’re going to outshoot you,” said Montreal's Cole Caufield, who scored 51 goals during the regular season. “I think everybody that plays them knows that, and you can’t look at it that way — that they kind of tilt the ice that much.”

Shot volume is something the Hurricanes have done consistently in the eight years since coach Rod Brind'Amour took over. What has changed in this series is preventing the young, skilled Canadiens from generating offense.

“You need everything working against a team like that,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “I don’t think you can just rely on the power play.”

Caufield chalked up his team's struggles to Carolina's pace and aggressive play. That the brand of hockey Brind'Amour wants to play.

“It’s putting the stress on them,” defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. “It’s a hard system for us to play sometimes because you’ve got to be on your toes. You’re always skating. But you can see it’s pretty effective, and it’s probably not the best to play against.”

It did not look at all right in Game 1 last week, which the Canadiens won 6-2 after getting off to a hot start, finding long breakout passes and staying patient in solving Carolina's relentless forecheck to hand the Hurricanes their first loss of the playoffs.

“It’s definitely a turning point for us: a little adversity,” Gostisbehere said. “Having two sweeps the first two rounds — not a lot of adversity in that sense. For us, it was a good kick in the teeth.”

The Hurricanes are now as close to the final as they've been during this run of success under Brind'Amour, which included getting swept twice and losing in five games in their three previous trips to the East final. This spring, they are 5-0 on the road and 5-0 in overtime thanks to a consistent approach.

“We try to play our game home and away,” first-line center Sebastian Aho said. “The game’s the same, I feel like. Obviously the environment is a little bit different, whether you’re home or away. But I feel like the game stays the same.”

Game 4 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday night is Carolina's first chance to move to the verge of making the final. The Canadiens feel like they have another level to get to, and they need to find it quickly.

"We didn’t expect this to be easy, and we’re OK with that," St. Louis said. “There’s not one thing. We have to put it all together. You’re at this stage right now, you have to put it all together. Execution’s part of that. Jam is part of that. There’s not one thing. We’ve just got to put it all together, and I know we can.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) and Andrei Svechnikov (37) celebrate in front of Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) after the winning goal by Aho in overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov celebrates his goal with teammates after an overtime period of Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) CORRECTION: Corrected the scorer to Andrei Svechnikov

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) reacts after the teammate Andrei Svechnikov scored on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) as teammate Juraj Slafkovsky (20) looks on during an overtime period of Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) CORRECTION: Corrected the scorer to Andrei Svechnikov