Diana Shnaider Reaches First Final of 2026 in Tokyo

Diana Shnaider reached her first final of 2026 by beating Mia Pohankova 6–4, 7–6(7) in Tokyo on Saturday. The third seed overcame the Slovak wild card in straight sets to secure the second place in the championship match.

Shnaider faced a set point when Pohankova led 6–5 in the second-set tiebreak. She recovered to win four of the final five points, closing the contest before the teenager could force a deciding set.

The match statistics credited Shnaider with saving five of six break points. She converted two of her own six opportunities and held ten of her 11 service games, limiting Pohankova to one break across the match.

Pohankova served three aces while Shnaider had none. Shnaider committed four double faults to her opponent’s two, but her ability to protect service games helped her finish with the advantage in the completed semifinal.

Her route to Saturday had demanded considerably longer matches. Shnaider defeated Alexandra Eala 2–6, 7–6(5), 6–4 in Friday’s quarterfinal, coming within two points of defeat during the second-set tiebreak before recovering.

That quarterfinal lasted two hours and 52 minutes. Shnaider hit 43 groundstroke winners and made only two of her 27 unforced errors in the deciding set, according to the WTA’s account of the match.

Pohankova, 18, had reached her first WTA semifinal after beating Naomi Osaka and Alycia Parks. The 2025 Wimbledon junior champion entered Tokyo ranked No. 144 and was making only her fourth tour main-draw appearance.

Friday’s victory had taken Shnaider into her fifth semifinal of the year at tour level, following appearances in Adelaide, Roland Garros, Washington and Ningbo. Saturday delivered the breakthrough beyond that stage.

Leylah Fernandez claimed the other final berth with a 7–5, 6–3 win over Kamilla Rakhimova. Shnaider will face an unseeded Canadian in the tournament’s championship match.