Daria Kasatkina dug deep to fend off Daria Saville in the Granby Championships final and land the sixth WTA singles title of her career.

World number 10 Kasatkina took a 6-4 6-4 victory in one hour and 53 minutes of hard battle with her great friend, Saville showing resilience despite struggling with an ankle problem.

The outcome made Kasatkina the second Russian winner of the day on the WTA Tour after Liudmila Samsonova took the Tennis In The Land title in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kasatkina, who also won the Silicon Valley Classic in early August, will turn her focus away from a successful week in Canada and towards the US Open, which gets under way in New York on Monday.

The 25-year-old will be targeting a deep run at Flushing Meadows after achieving her best grand slam result in June when she reached the French Open semi-finals, before being prevented from playing Wimbledon due to a blanket ban on players from Russia and Belarus imposed by the All England Club.

In the second set of a gruelling and gripping tussle, Saville looked nailed on to come from 4-1 down to level at 4-4 when she led 40-0 in the eighth game, only for her game to briefly disintegrate, allowing Kasatkina to move 5-3 ahead.

Still, it was an unsteady Kasatkina at the other end of the court, and the Barcelona-based player was broken by Saville when serving for the match.

There was nothing secure about Saville on serve either, and Kasatkina had two match points in the next game at 15-40. She was unable to take either, or the third and fourth that arrived soon after. On her fifth opportunity, Kasatkina was relieved to see Saville hit wide.

Kasatkina begins her US Open campaign against British qualifier Harriet Dart on Monday, while Saville starts on the same day against Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Daria Kasatkina has a chance to win her second tournament this month after blowing past Diane Parry 6-2 6-0 in the semi-final of the Granby Championships.

Kasatkina, who beat Shelby Rogers in the final of the Silicon Valley Classic a couple of weeks ago, dominated Parry from the jump with her powerful serve.

Parry did not stand a chance when Kasatkina would land her first serves fair, with the Russian converting 88 per cent (15-of-17) of those opportunities in the opening frame, before winning 92 per cent (12-of-13) of her total service points in the second set.

Kasatkina, who has now collected three straight-sets wins in a row, will face Australia's Daria Saville in the final after her semi-final opponent, Marta Kostyuk, withdrew due to injury.

Meanwhile, at Tennis in the Land, Liudmila Samsonova continued her red-hot form with a 6-1 6-2 semi-final victory over Bernarda Pera to book her place in the final.

Samsonova, who is yet to drop a set at the tournament, dominated both with her serve and in her return game, winning 89 per cent (32-of-36) of her service points and 56 per cent (24-of-43) of her return points. She created nine break point opportunities, while allowing zero.

She will play Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final after the Belarusian outlasted France's Alize Cornet 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours and 53 minutes.

Sasnovich shot herself in the foot early with four double faults in the opening set, but cleaned it up as the match wore on, committing just two the rest of the way.

World number 10 Daria Kasatkina showed why she is the highest ranked player at the Granby Championships, defeating fifth seed Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3 6-2 in convincing fashion.

Kasatkina, who is enjoying a career-high ranking, got the job done in straight sets despite struggling with her serve, committing all nine of the match's double faults.

While she was only able to win a below-par 58 per cent of her service points, she also won 58 per cent of her return points, and it was that ability to deal with the Spaniard's serve that proved to be the difference.

Kasatkina will play France's Diane Parry in the semi-final after she got the better of Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-4) in a near three-hour tussle.

Parry only had one ace compared to Maria's 10, but she excelled in the longer rallies, with her return success rate jumping up from 16 per cent to 47 per cent when she was able to see a second serve.

Australia's Daria Saville will contest the other semi-final after her 6-3 6-0 domination of China's Xiyu Wang, and she will play Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk after she defeated Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-2 4-6 6-2.

Meanwhile, Liudmila Samsonova continued her terrific run at Tennis in the Land as she beat Magda Linette 6-4 6-3.

Samsonova is yet to lose a set at the tournament, but will face her toughest test next when she meets Bernarda Pera in the semi-final.

Pera, who previously eliminated top seed Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets, came out on top against American compatriot Sofia Kenin 6-2 5-7 6-3, despite creating one fewer break point opportunity.

Alize Cornet is also yet to lose a set on her run to the semi-final, proving too strong for Shuai Zhang 6-4 6-2.

Cornet will play Aliaksandra Sasnovich for a place in the final after the Belarusian pulled away in the second set of her 6-4 6-1 win against American Madison Brengle.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich was the top seed to advance in Tuesday's action at Tennis in the Land, treating the Cleveland crowd to a two-and-half-hour battle before prevailing 4-6 6-3 6-3 against Sara Sorribes Tormo.

In a close contest, Belarus' Sasnovich took advantage in the big moments, winning five of her 10 break point opportunities, while Sorribes Tormo could only convert two-of-nine.

While seventh seed Sasnovich was the highest-seeded winner on the day, fifth seed Irina-Camelia Begu fell victim to a shock 6-3 6-2 upset from world number 415 Sofia Kenin.

Kenin, a wildcard, now advances to the quarter-finals after winning two matches in a row for the first time since January, and prior to this week she had lost her previous nine matches.

Alize Cornet will likely meet second seed Martina Trevisan in the quarter-final after a strong 6-3 7-6 (7-1) triumph against Denmark's rising 19-year-old talent Clara Tauson.

Liudmila Samsonova needed only 59 minutes to breeze past Iryna Shymanovich 6-1 6-0, and it was similarly smooth sailing for Magda Linette as she defeated Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-2.

Meanwhile, at the Granby Championships in Canada, only one match was able to finish before the rain halted the rest of the day's play.

Spain's Nuria Parrizas-Diaz was too much for England's Harriet Dart, winning 6-2 6-4, while top seed Daria Kasatkina will just need to add the finishing touches when she resumes her match against Magdalena Frech, leading 6-3 5-0.

Coco Gauff shined on the opening day of the Canadian Open on Tuesday, defeating American compatriot Madison Brengle 6-1 6-3 to move to a record of 14-4 from her past 18 matches.

Gauff, who has not lost to anyone ranked lower than world number 22 Amanda Anisimova since the Australian Open, continued that impressive record by cruising past world number 62 Brengle, winning 58 per cent (34-of-59) of her return points in a dominant showing.

Anisimova, who eliminated Gauff from Wimbledon, also made it through her first match unscathed as she defeated hometown Canadian Carol Zhao 6-1 6-3.

China's Qinweng Zheng put another dagger into the Canadians with her 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over Rebecca Marino, but Bianca Andreescu gave the fans something to cheer for as she upset world number nine and winner of this past week's Silicon Valley Classic Daria Kasatkina 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo prevailed against American Claire Liu 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (7-5) in a three-and-a-half-hour battle of attrition, while Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic upset world number 16 Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-4) in two-and-a-half hours.

It was a disappointing showing from world number 10 Emma Raducanu as she went down 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 to the reigning champion of this event, Italy's Camila Giorgi.

Naomi Osaka also will need an early flight home after being forced to retire against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, pulling the plug due to a persistent back injury while trailing 7-6 (7-4) 3-0.

In the late session, Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic successfully navigated the challenge of Tereza Martincova 6-4 6-2 to book a second round fixture against Serena Williams, and world number four Maria Sakkari survived a scare to finish strong and defeat Sloane Stephens 6-2 4-6 6-2.

Daria Kasatkina continued her strong season on Sunday by defeating American Shelby Rogers 6-7 (2-7) 6-1 6-2 in the final of the Silicon Valley Classic.

Russia's Kasatkina made her deepest grand slam run earlier this year by reaching the semi-final of the French Open, where she lost to world number one Iga Swiatek, and with this singles title – the fifth of her WTA career – she has claimed a career-best ranking of ninth in the world.

Against Rogers, the story was how the effectiveness of Kasatkina's serve continued to improve the further the match went on.

In the hard-fought opening set, Kasatkina won just 53 per cent (26-of-49) of her service points, allowing two breaks of serve and then flailing in the tie-break to drop five consecutive points.

Something changed from that point on, with Kasatkina improving to take 69 per cent (18-of-26) of her service points in the second frame, and that jumped again to 76 per cent (16-of-21) in the decider as she either figured something out, or Rogers ran out of steam.

Kasatkina did not allow a single break point opportunity after the first set, while converting four of her six chances to take a double-break in both the second and third.

Rogers had not lost a single set in her four matches to make it to the final, putting the exclamation point on a terrific run from Kasatkina that included wins over world number 27 Elena Rybakina, world number six Aryna Sabalenka and world number three Paula Badosa.

Shelby Rogers continued her dream run at the Silicon Valley Classic with victory over ninth seed Veronika Kudermetova securing a spot in the final against last year's runner-up Daria Kasatkina who toppled Paula Badosa.

Unseeded 29-year-old American Rogers has knocked off top seed Maria Sakkari along with Amanda Anisimova and 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu on her way to the decider.

Rogers is also yet to drop a set, maintaining that run against the higher-ranked Kudermetova for a 6-3 6-4 victory in one hour and 20 minutes.

The triumph marks Rogers' biggest final in her career and her first on tour in six years.

Rogers, who trailed 2-0 in the second set, broke Kudermetova's serve with her second match point to clinch victory.

Second seed Badosa was bundled out by Kasatkina 6-2 6-4 in 46 minutes in the other semi-final on Saturday.

Badosa did not appear 100 per cent physically throughout the match and Kasatkina capitalised to secure back-to-back finals in San Jose.

The Spaniard had three break points in the decisive game before Kasatkina converted her first match point.

Kaia Kanepi and Liudmila Samsonova both powered their way into the Citi Open final with comfortable victories on Saturday.

Sixth seed Kanepi ruthlessly swept aside Australian Daria Saville 6-3 6-1 in one hour and 13 minutes, moving her closer to her fifth career title. The 37-year-old Estonian blasted 18 winners for the match.

World number 60 Samsonova proved too good for China's Wang Xiyu, winning 6-1 6-1 in one hour and seven minutes. Samsonova's big hitting was a key feature behind her win with four aces and 17 winners.

Daria Kasatkina revealed she is in a gay relationship as Russia's leading star on the WTA Tour attacked homophobic attitudes in her homeland, and called for the war in Ukraine to end.

In an emotional interview with documentary maker Vitya Kravchenko, Kasatkina, who lives in Barcelona, teared up at the prospect of potentially being unable to return to Russia after being so candid.

The recent French Open semi-finalist has won four WTA titles in her career, including trophy runs at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow and the St Petersburg Open.

She has spoken about matters of sexuality in the past, and when asked whether she has a girlfriend, Kasatkina said in the new documentary: "Yes."

On her social media accounts, Kasatkina confirmed she and Olympic figure skater Natalia Zabiiako, who she described as "my cutie pie", are a couple.

She knows LGBT matters are taboo in Russia, saying: "So many subjects are taboo in Russia, some of them more important than ours, it's no surprise.

"This notion of someone wanting to be gay or becoming one, so ridiculous I think. There's nothing easier in this world than being straight.

"Seriously, if there is a choice, nobody would choose being gay. Why make your life harder, especially in Russia? What's the point?"

Asked whether she would be able to hold hands with her girlfriend in Russia, Kasatkina said: "Never."

Assessing the process of coming out, the 25-year-old said: "It's up to you how to do it and how much to tell. Living in peace with yourself is the only thing that matters, and f*** everyone else."

Few Russian sports stars have spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine, but Kasatkina made it clear that she feels strongly the war must stop.

Asked what she wanted most of all, Kasatkina said: "For the war to end. There hasn't been a single day since February 24 that I haven't read some news myself. Or haven't thought of it. [I want] for the day to just pass by without it.

"What people go through there, people that have relatives in Ukraine, especially when you start talking about Russia, Belgorod, here we go again. I can't imagine what they're going through, it's a full-blown nightmare.

"If only we could do something to stop that, even tiny percentage to stop. Not to change people's minds or something, only stop. Without a thought, I'd do anything, but unfortunately that's impossible and I think you understand it. We can't affect it. We can't change events that unfold. You feel powerless."

When she was asked by Kravchenko whether she was afraid she might not be allowed back to Russia because of her criticism, Kasatkina said: "Yes, I have thought about it."

She broke down in tears at that point.

Kasatkina has found support for coming out, with former doubles star Pam Shriver among those thanking her. She was also praised by Russian women's national team footballer Nadya Karpova, who has spoken about her own lesbian life and has also been a critic of the war.

Karpova posted on Instagram: "You are beautiful! I'm proud."

Kasatkina thanked Karpova in the YouTube documentary, saying: "Not only did Nadya help herself by coming clean and getting this burden off her chest, but she helped others.

"I believe it's important the influential people from sports, or any other sphere really, speaks about it. It helps."

Bianca Andreescu dismantled top seed Daria Kasatkina to reach the semi-finals of the Bad Homburg Open, while Beatriz Haddad Maia moved a step closer to a third straight title in Eastbourne. 

A resounding 6-4 6-1 win over Kasatkina saw Andreescu advance to the last four of a WTA Tour grass-court tournament for the first time. 

The last time she reached the semi-finals in any event was the 2021 Miami Open, where she finished as runner-up after retiring with an ankle injury in the second set of the final against Ash Barty. 

Andreescu limited Kasatkina to just 17.6 per cent of the points behind the Russian's second serve and saved four of the six break points she faced to book a meeting with Simona Halep. 

Former world number one Halep sent down 10 aces and converted all three of the break points that came her way in a 6-2 6-1 success over Amanda Anisimova. 

The other semi-final will be an all-French affair after Alize Cornet and Caroline Garcia downed home hopes Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki respectively. 

After going all the way in Nottingham and Birmingham this month, Haddad Maia progressed to the semi-finals of the Eastbourne International courtesy of a walkover against Lesia Tsurenko. 

Next up for Haddad Maia is Petra Kvitova, who she beat in straight sets in the first round in Birmingham, after the Czech ended Harriet Dart's run to the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-4 win. 

Jelena Ostapenko cruised to a 6-3 6-2 victory against Anhelina Kalinina and will take on Camila Giorgi for a place in the final. Giorgi comfortably overcame lucky loser Viktoriya Tomova 6-2 6-1 in 64 minutes. 

Garbine Muguruza saw her Wimbledon preparations take a hit as she fell to a last-16 defeat at the Eastbourne International on Wednesday. 

World number 26 Camila Giorgi battled from a break down in both sets to beat fifth seed Muguruza 7-5 6-3 in an hour and 53 minutes. 

That meant 12th seed Giorgi made her second straight quarter-final, following a last-eight appearance in Birmingham, and will next face Viktoriya Tomova, who defeated Kirsten Flipkens 3-6 6-3 6-4. 

Jil Teichmann, the 10th seed at the tournament, was a notable second-round elimination, falling to a 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-3 defeat to Briton Harriet Dart, who later triumphed 6-4 2-6 6-4 over Marta Kostyuk. 

Dart's fellow Briton Katie Boulter stunned last year's Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova in the second round but had no such luck against Petra Kvitova, losing 5-7 6-0 7-5. 

Beatriz Haddad Maia, the winner at the Birmingham Open last week, extended to a 12-match winning streak with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Jodie Burrage. 

Jelena Ostapenko also progressed after Madison Keys retired when 6-3 down and will next face Anhelina Kalinina, who battled to a 6-3 2-6 6-3 win over 16th seed Yulia Putintseva. 

While seeds fell at Eastbourne, there were not as many shocks at the Bad Homburg Open, where Angelique Kerber defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-2 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals. 

Fourth seed Simona Halep also made the last eight with 6-0 6-3 victory over Tamara Zidansek and will meet Amanda Anisimova after she won an All-American match against Ann Li 6-0 6-2. 

Alize Cornet downed Tatjana Maria 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to tee up a clash with Kerber, while Bianca Andreescu will meet top seed Daria Kasatkina after defeating Katie Swan 6-4 6-4. 

Katie Boulter stunned last year's Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova at the Eastbourne International as the Briton secured the first top-10 scalp of her career.

Despite making a strong start, fourth seed Pliskova faltered and lost 1-6 6-4 6-4 to the world number 127 in the pair's last-32 match.

Boulter said: "I'm super-proud of myself today. I went out there and didn't feel great on court, and I worked so hard to battle and fight, and against a player like that it means so much to me, coming through that."

There was another major shock win for a British player later in the day as Jodie Burrage knocked out top seed Paula Badosa, the world number 169 triumphing 6-4 6-3 against a player who will be seeded fourth at Wimbledon.

Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4 6-4 and two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova saw off Donna Vekic 6-1 7-6 (7-1), while Beatriz Haddad Maia's strong form on grass continued with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory over Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi.

Brazilian left-hander Haddad Maia is coming off the back of title wins in Nottingham and Birmingham and stretched her winning run on grass to 11 matches.

There were also wins in Eastbourne for Camila Giorgi, Madison Keys and Barbora Krejcikova, but Greek third seed Maria Sakkari bowed out, losing 3-6 7-5 6-4 to Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina.

At the Bad Homburg Open in Germany, the 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep scrambled for a 4-6 6-3 6-4 win against Katerina Siniakova, and sixth seed Amanda Anisimova came from a set down to see off Alison van Uytvanck in a third-set tie-break.

Bianca Andreescu saw off Martina Trevisan 6-3 6-1 and Angelique Kerber also won in straight sets, while top seed and recent French Open semi-finalist Daria Kasatkina reached the quarter-finals with a 6-1 3-6 6-1 win over Germany's Jule Niemeier.

Kasatkina will be absent from Wimbledon due to the ban on Russian players.

Simona Halep won her first match on grass since 2019 as she cruised past Lesia Tsurenko to reach the second round of the Birmingham Classic on Monday.

Halep's last grass-court match was the impressive 6-2 6-2 defeat of Serena Williams in the 2019 Wimbledon final.

While Monday's triumph may not have been of comparable importance, the 6-1 6-4 win was a positive step in Halep's preparation for a return to SW19 later this month.

After saving three break points in the very first game, the former world number one rarely looked in trouble against her Ukrainian opponent, breaking Tsurenko's serve at the first opportunity.

She repeated the feat to go 5-1 up before serving to love to close out the set, though Tsurenko showed a bit more fight at the start of the second – only one of the first five service games was a hold.

Halep ultimately weathered the storm, however, taking her chance to go 5-4 up and once again served to love to wrap up the match.

Seeded second, Halep was the only seed in action on Monday and will meet home favourite Harriet Dart next, with the Brit impressively seeing off Camila Osorio – ranked 45 places better off – 6-2 6-0.

In Berlin, fourth and sixth seeds Karolina Pliskova and Daria Kasatkina secured their passage to the last 16.

Pliskova struggled initially against Kaia Kanepi but went on to produce two near-flawless sets to progress 6-7 (6-8) 6-0 6-0 – Kasatkina also came from behind, with an ankle injury to Anhelina Kalinina potentially aiding her 5-7 6-3 6-1 victory.

Bianca Andreescu was also among the winners in Berlin, with the Canadian beating Katerina Siniakova to claim only her second career success on grass.

Iga Swiatek ticked off a whole host of accomplishments as her 34-match winning streak carried her into the French Open final on Thursday.

The world number one was in sensational form heading to Roland Garros after winning five consecutive tournaments.

And there has appeared little prospect of Swiatek slowing in Paris, with her 6-2 6-1 defeat of Daria Kasatkina securing a sixth WTA Tour final appearance in a row.

Swiatek is the first player to make six finals in the first six months of the year since Serena Williams reached seven before the halfway mark in 2013.

She has also now matched Williams' best winning run this century, with only Novak Djokovic in 2011 (43), Roger Federer in 2006 (42) and Venus Williams in 2000 (35) enjoying longer sequences across both the ATP and WTA Tours since 2000.

Swiatek's feats are all the more impressive given her age, as she turned 21 just this week.

Now with 20 wins at Roland Garros, the 2020 champion is the youngest female player to that mark since Martina Hingis in 1999.

Only eight women – Evonne Goolagong, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Hingis, Kim Clijsters and Ana Ivanovic – have reached their second French Open final at a younger age.

Iga Swiatek produced heavy metal tennis to destroy Daria Kasatkina's French Open hopes in a brutal semi-final performance, then revealed she was inspired by listening to Led Zeppelin.

Swiatek, who is reading the Alexander Dumas novel The Three Musketeers while in Paris, is hoovering up classic culture at a young age.

The 21-year-old has made no secret of her love for hard rock and rates AC/DC among her favourite bands.

Rather than search for focus by listening to chillout music or meditation tapes, Swiatek plays by her own rules and served up a 6-2 6-1 thumping of Kasatkina after indulging in a little Page and Plant.

"I try to treat every match the same way, because if I realise this is one of the biggest matches of the season it can stress me out. So I'm trying to focus on the tasks and I listen to music when I work out," Swiatek said in an on-court interview.

Asked which artist she was listening to, Swiatek said: "Led Zeppelin. It's really helping me out so I can start with being proactive. I use everything to help me."

Swiatek won the 2020 French Open final as an outsider ranked 54th in the world, but she is a hot favourite to be champion this year after climbing to number one.

Friday's win was a 34th in succession for the Polish player, who has won five tournaments in that run.

She said: "It's a pretty special moment, and I'm really emotional. I'm so grateful to be in that place and be healthy and be able to play my game. It's amazing and I love playing here."

She is feeling plenty of love from the Roland Garros crowds, particularly a strong contingent from Poland.

"It's easier to play matches with that kind of support, and I've had that in every place I've played this year and it's still surprising for me," she said.

"When I started playing the WTA, basically right after my first year it was COVID and I wasn't able to see how many Polish people would come, and it's still overwhelming and it surprises me how much they're supporting."

As well as being open about her musical heroes, Swiatek is unabashed in making clear her affection for Rafael Nadal, the 13-time French Open winner who is through to another semi-final this fortnight after beating Novak Djokovic on Tuesday.

"He's inspiring me in every aspect, on court and off court, because he's so humble and down to earth," Swiatek said.

"He's the kind of guy who's always saying hi, and it's amazing because it seems the success didn't change him and he's still the same, a great person.

"When I watched this year's Australian Open final [against Daniil Medvedev] it was just amazing. Even I had doubts and I could see how he was trying to find solutions and trying to get better during the match, and he did and he won, so he's a huge inspiration. Not only here but on every court, it's just great to watch him play."