Japan’s Jay Friend, the third seed, defeated compatriot Keisuke Saitoh 6:2, 6:1 in the semifinal of the Yunin Open, a Challenger 50 event. The straight-sets win sent Friend through to the final. Match statistics are available on api.tennis.
Friend took the first set 6:2. Saitoh managed to win just one game in the second, and the match ended in straight sets.
Draw and rankings
Friend has progressed through the tournament without dropping a set. In the first round, he defeated Yuta Kikuchi (6:1, 6:4). In the round of 16, he beat Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (6:3, 6:3). In the quarterfinal, he got past Ryan Seggerman (7:6, 6:2). The first-set tiebreak against Seggerman was the only closely contested stretch of Friend’s run.
Saitoh had a tougher route to the semifinal, starting in qualifying. In the first qualifying round, he defeated Zizun Wang (6:1, 6:0). In the final qualifying round, he beat Yusuke Takahashi (4:6, 6:3, 6:2). In the main draw, he defeated Dominic Palan (7:6, 6:4) and Hiroki Moriya (6:2, 6:3), then overcame Akira Santillan (6:7, 6:1, 6:4) in the quarterfinal.
According to rank.tennis, Friend is ranked 296th with 179 points. Saitoh, an unseeded player in the tournament, is 487th with 93 points.