Kenin to face Friedsam in Lyon WTA final

Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin squeezed through to the final of the WTA event in Lyon on Saturday after a tight three-set win over Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck.

The American top seed arrived in Lyon on a three-match losing streak but qualified for her second final of the year with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/2) victory.

World number five Kenin, who saved a match point against Romania's Jaqueline Cristian in round two, will meet Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany on Sunday for the title.

Kenin withstood 22 aces from Van Uytvanck and fended off a pair of break points at 5-all in the third set before prevailing in a deciding tie-break.

The 136th-ranked Friedsam took down seventh seed Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 earlier in the day to reach her second career final. She finished runner-up at Linz, Austria in 2015.