World number five Jessica Pegula clinched a berth in her second WTA final of the year with a straight-sets victory over Victoria Azarenka at the Guadalajara Open on a rainy Saturday.

Pegula defeated the former world number one Belarussian 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 in one hour and 29 minutes, having fought back from a 4-1 first-set deficit.

The American will need to wait until Sunday to learn her opponent, with rain forcing Maria Sakkari and Marie Bouzkova's semi-final to be suspended and eventually postponed with the Greek leading 7-5.

Pegula's triumph was her 40th win of the season, becoming the 10th American woman to achieve that feat.

The victory also made it four successive Grand Slam winners that Pegula has overcome to reach the final in Guadalajara, knocking off Sloane Stephens, Bianca Andreescu and Elena Rybakina along with Azarenka.

Pegula converted three of eight break points, while Azarenka took her only break point of the match to help her open up the 4-1 first-set lead.

The American proved better on her second serve, while she managed to win 15 of 26 points on Azarenka's second serve.

Sakkari and Bouzkova's semi-final will resume at 1pm local time on Sunday, with the fourth seed leading 7-5 after an epic first set that lasted 84 minutes.

The Greek showed off her grit after fluffing an early 3-1 lead by taking her eighth set point, winning a 22-shot rally - the longest of the first set - to break Bouzkova in the 12th game.

The final is due to commence no earlier than 6pm local time on Sunday, meaning it will be a physical test for the victor.

Matteo Berrettini is set to tackle Davis Cup team-mate Lorenzo Musetti in an all-Italian Napoli Cup final on Sunday after defying advice to pull out with a foot injury.

Former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini beat American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 at the hard court event, while Musetti came through 6-3 6-4 against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

Providing Berrettini is healthy to participate in the final, the tournament looks set to deliver a crowd-pleasing trophy match, but it was touch and go whether the Rome native would get through the McDonald match.

"I don't even know how I did it," Berrettini said. "I wasn't feeling very good. I asked for the physio because my foot was hurting. It happened so many times in my career that I had to fight through so many things, not just thinking about the tennis ball."

He added, quoted by the ATP: "I didn't want to retire. My team told me, 'I think you should stop'. But I tried and I found a way."

Berrettini and Musetti have never gone head-to-head before. Berrettini has won two titles this year, both on grass, in Stuttgart and at London's Queen's Club, while 20-year-old Musetti scooped his maiden ATP title on clay in Hamburg.

At the European Open in Antwerp, Sunday's final will see American Sebastian Korda tackle Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, in a battle of two in-form players.

Korda was runner-up last week in Gijon, while Auger-Aliassime took the title in Florence, adding to his Rotterdam triumph from February.

Korda wrestled his way past a recently resurgent Dominic Thiem, scraping a 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) victory, before Auger-Aliassime was given a mighty battle by veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet, winning through in two tight sets, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-3) his margin.

Like Berrettini and Auger-Aliassime, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas has a third title of the year in his sights this weekend.

Tsitsipas swept through to the final of the Stockholm Open with a 6-2 6-2 win over Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori, setting up a clash with 19-year-old Danish player Holger Rune.

For Rune, there was no such straightforward path into the final as Alex de Minaur pushed him all the way, with the Australian eventually edged out 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 after two hours and 50 minutes.

Maria Sakkari secured the eighth and final place at the WTA Finals after defeating Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 5-7 6-4 to reach the semi-finals at the Guadalajara Open on Friday.

The WTA Finals – which is contested by the women who finish top-eight for the season in ranking points – already had seven entrants locked in, with the eighth to be decided by the winner between world number six Sakkari and world number 12 Kudermetova.

Sakkari's ability to fight her way out of tough situations proved to be the difference as she saved 14 of the 15 break points she faced, while converting three of her nine chances. In the deciding third set, Sakkari made the most of her only break point, while saving all five of Kudermetova's chances to get back into the contest.

She will play Marie Bouzkova in the semi-final after the unseeded Czech was the beneficiary of Anna Kalinskaya's injury retirement in the first set, with Bouzkova leading 5-2.

It continues a terrific run of form for the 24-year-old Bouzkova, who is 19-3 in her past 22 matches, with her only losses in that span coming against world number 20 Karolina Pliskova, Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and world number two Ons Jabeur.

On the other side of the draw, Jessica Pegula breezed through the challenge of Sloane Stephens to win 6-2 6-2, which would have set up a tantalising all-American matchup against her doubles partner and rising star Coco Gauff, but she could not hold up her end of the bargain.

Gauff fell 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-3 to Victoria Azarenka, giving the Belarusian her third consecutive top-20 win after earning her spot in the quarter-final with victories over world number eight Paula Badosa and world number 15 Madison Keys.

Dominic Thiem saved three match points before beating Hubert Hurkacz for the first time to reach the semi-finals of the European Open on Friday.

Thiem was on the brink of being knocked out by the top seed in Antwerp, but fought back to win 3-6 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-4).

The 2020 US Open champion fended off all three match points in a second-set tie-break to take a thrilling quarter-final the distance and then came out on top in another breaker to advance.

Thiem will do battle with Sebastian Korda for a place in the final after the American emphatically defeated eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0 6-2.

Richard Gasquet moved into the last four at the expense of David Goffin and will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who came from a set down to beat Dan Evans.

Matteo Berrettini remains in the hunt to win the Tennis Napoli Cup on home soil after a 6-2 6-3 quarter-final triumph over Taro Daniel.

Top seed Pablo Carreno Busta crashed out in Italy, losing 7-5 6-2 to Miomir Kecmanovic, who will face Lorenzo Musetti after he got the better of Daniel Elahi Galan. Mackenzie McDonald will come up against Berrettini after getting past Zhang Zhizhen.

Stefanos Tsitsipas sealed a Stockholm Open semi-final spot with a 7-5 6-3 win over Mikael Ymer and will take on Emil Ruusuvuori, who eliminated Frances Tiafoe.

Holger Rune and Alex de Minaur meet in the other last-four match in the Swedish capital following wins over Cameron Norrie and Denis Shapovalov respectively.

Simona Halep said she felt "confused and betrayed" after being handed a provisional suspension for failing a drug test.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency announced on Friday the 31-year-old had tested positive for roxadustat, a prohibited substance, after providing two samples while competing at the US Open in August.

She was notified of a rule violation on October 7 and now faces a fight to avoid a ban from the sport.

In a statement, the ITIA said: "While provisionally suspended, the player is ineligible to compete in or attend any sanctioned tennis event organised by the governing bodies of the sport."

Swiftly responding, former French Open and Wimbledon champion Halep denied all knowledge of taking the substance and said the sanction was the "biggest shock" of her life.

"Today begins the hardest match of my life: a fight for the truth," she posted on social media.

"I have been notified that I tested positive for a substance called roxadustat in an extremely low quantity, which came as the biggest shock of my life.

"Throughout my whole career, the idea of cheating never even crossed my mind once, as it is totally against all the values I have been educated with. Facing such an unfair situation, I feel completely confused and betrayed.

"I will fight until the end to prove that I never knowingly took any prohibited substance and I have faith that sooner or later, the truth will come out.

"It's not about the titles or the money. It's about honour, and the love story I have developed with the game of tennis over the last 25 years."

The 31-year-old former world number one announced in September she would miss the rest of the season after undergoing nose surgery, with it unclear how long her recovery would take.

American teenager Coco Gauff showed why she deserves to be at this year's WTA Finals with a commanding 6-0 6-3 victory over Martina Trevisan at the Guadalajara Open.

The fifth seed clinched her maiden spot at the season-ending WTA Finals on Wednesday and backed that up by securing her third WTA 1000 quarter-final on Thursday.

Gauff reeled off the first nine games of the match against Trevisan, where she triumphed in one hour and one minute. The 18-year-old came under pressure from Trevisan, who generated nine break points for the match but Gauff saved all bar one of them.

World number one Iga Swiatek (47) is the only player to have won more matches this year in straight sets than Gauff (32).

Gauff will face Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals after the Belarusian toppled 13th seed Madison Keys 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 in two hours and 13 minutes.

Two-time Australian Open winner Azarenka swept aside Keys in 32 minutes in the third set after a titanic battle in the opening two frames, winning 26 of the 37 final-set points. Azarenka's quarter-final appearance is her 34th since 2009, with only four players having more during the span; Agnieszka Radwanska (42), Simona Halep (39) and Caroline Wozniacki (36).

Third seed Jessica Pegula advanced to the last eight with a 6-4 6-4 victory over former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. 

The American, who survived three match points against Elena Rybakina on Wednesday, trailed early against the Canadian but took control of the match. Pegula will face Sloane Stephens in the quarter-finals after she toppled 2022 US Open semi-finalist Caroline Garcia 7-6 (8-6) 7-5.

On the day her WTA Finals berth was confirmed, seventh seed Daria Kasatkina lost 6-2 2-6 6-3 to Anna Kalinskaya in two hours and 14 minutes.

Fourth seed Maria Sakkari fought back to win 5-7 6-3 6-3 over 14th seed Danielle Collins, while Marie Bouzkova copped a bagel before triumphing 0-6 7-5 6-3 over Liudmila Samsonova.

Sakkari will next meet eighth seed Veronika Kudermetova who beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 6-4. Bouzkova will take on Kalinskaya in the last eight.

Dominic Thiem saw off Francisco Cerundolo for the second time in the space of a week as he dug deep in the deciding set to win 6-1 1-6 7-5 at the European Open.

The Austrian downed the Argentinian in straight sets six days earlier in Gijon but found this a sterner test of his capabilities against the sixth seed.

Nevertheless, the former US Open winner shook off a second-set collapse and then responded to going a break down in the decider, winning four of the final five games to seal a quarter-final clash with favourite Hubert Hurkacz.

He was joined in the last-eight by two more unseeded players, as David Goffin and Sebastian Korda recorded straight-set upsets over third seed Diego Schwartzman and fourth-ranked Karen Khachanov respectively.

At the Stockholm Open, fifth seed Alex de Minaur made swift work of American J.J. Wolf, dispatching him in a 6-4 6-2 win to set up a quarter-final with Canada's Denis Shapovalov.

Defending champion Tommy Paul is out however, losing to Sweden's Mikael Ymer, who recorded a 6-2 6-3 victory that earns him a clash with top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Slippery court conditions contributed to a backlog in fixtures at the Napoli Cup, meaning first-round matches were followed by second-round encounters on Thursday.

Nevertheless, second seed Matteo Berrettini made light work of Roberto Carballes Baena, winning 6-4 6-2.

Roberto Bautista Agut, seeded third, slipped to a 6-4 6-4 loss to Mackenzie McDonald, with the American joining Berrettini in the last eight.

Serena Williams says the chances of her returning to the court are "very high", despite declaring her intention to step away from tennis before the US Open last month.

Though she deliberately avoided saying she would retire prior to the tournament, instead saying she planned to "evolve" away from the sport, many believed Williams' third-round exit at Flushing Meadows last month was the last time she would be seen playing competitive tennis.

Her defeat to Ajla Tomljanovic was met with the kind of fanfare that suggested she was calling it a day on an illustrious career that included 23 grand slam titles, the second most in history behind Margaret Court.

But Williams implied she could yet step on the court again when speaking at a TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

In quotes collected by the San Francisco Standard, Williams said: "I am not retired.

"The chances [of me returning] are very high. You can come to my house and [see] I have a court."

It was a great day for the highly ranked Americans at the Guadalajara Open on Wednesday, headlined by world number five Jessica Pegula and her 2-6 6-3 7-6 (10-8) comeback win over Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Pegula, who is now locked into the top-eight and therefore will qualify for the WTA Finals, struggled to win points on her serve in the opening set, but raised her 57 per cent success rate up to 69 per cent in the second set, and 66 per cent in the decider.

The American had to come from a break down in the second set to keep her tournament alive, and she will now face Canada's Bianca Andreescu in the third round.

Meanwhile, fellow United States star Coco Gauff was too good for Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto, winning 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 to book a third-round clash with another Italian, Martina Trevisan, who earned her way there with a 6-0 4-6 6-3 win over Katerina Siniakova.

The other two seeded Americans were also successful, with 13th seed Madison Keys coming from a set down to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6 6-4 6-3, and 14th seed Danielle Collins repelled the challenge of Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-4.

There were positive signs for former world number five Eugenie Bouchard, who ended up losing, but showed she still has her talent by taking a set off world number 23 Jelena Ostapenko in a 7-5 2-6 6-1 result.

Russian pair Anna Kalinskaya and Liudmila Samsonova both emerged in three-set outings, with Kalinskaya outlasting Elise Mertens 6-4 0-6 7-5, while Samsonova upset world number four Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 2-6 6-2.

World number 12 Veronika Kudermetova kept her WTA Finals hopes alive with a 6-4 7-5 win over Donna Vekic, and the Czech Republic's Marie Bouzkova ousted Colombia's Camila Osorio 6-3 6-1.

In the late window, Sloane Stephens eliminated Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic 6-4 6-4, and top overall seed Paula Badosa retired due to injury after losing the first set 6-2 against Victoria Azarenka.

Cameron Norrie fought back from a first-set loss against Aslan Karatsev to advance into the quarter-finals of the Stockholm Open, keeping hopes of qualifying for next month's ATP finals alive.

Norrie's return to action, having withdrawn from last month's Korea Open with illness, was not plain sailing as Karatsev won the first set tie-break 10-8 to put the Brit under pressure.

However, the 27-year-old responded by taking the next two sets 6-3 6-4 to seal safe passage, helped by six first-serve aces, which also maintains his hopes of a spot in November's finals and sets up a tie against 19-year-old Holger Rune.

Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was given a sterner test by Maxime Cressy before eventually securing a spot in the quarter-finals 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (14-12) in a two-hour contest, while Denis Shapovalov also beat Antoine Bellier in straight sets.

The number one seed is through at the European Open in Antwerp as well as Hubert Hurkacz toppled Jack Draper 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.

Britain's Dan Evans eased into the final eight after securing a 6-2 6-1 victory against Constant Lestienne, while there were also victories for Yoshihito Nishioka and Richard Gasquet.

Elsewhere, sixth-seed Sebastian Baez was a 7-5 7-6 (7-3) winner against Lorenzo Sonego in the Napoli Open, where Roberto Carballes Baena and Corentin Moutet were among the other victors.

The top seed in action on Tuesday at the Guadalajara Open made it through her opening match unscathed as Maria Sakkari defeated Marta Kostyuk 6-4 6-4.

Sakkari is one of the players needing a strong result in the tournament to break into the top-eight of the world rankings to qualify for the upcoming WTA Finals, entering the week at 10th, but only needing to make up one spot, with number eight Simona Halep out due to injury.

With her victory over Kostyuk, Sakkari avoided notching four consecutive losses for the first time this season, and will likely only need one more win to move into WTA Finals contention.

Her next opponent appears to be world number 16 Danielle Collins, who had no issue dispatching American compatriot Caroline Dolehide 6-4 6-1 to book her second-round fixture against Magdalena Frech after the Polish qualifier beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-4.

World number seven Daria Kasatkina also should be locked into the WTA Finals after cruising past China's Lin Zhu 6-1 6-2, while 18th-ranked Beatriz Haddad Maia's season is over after a disappointing 7-5 6-2 upset loss to Katerina Siniakova.

Petra Kvitova needed to reach the final to have a chance of qualifying, but after a strong first set she fell 3-6 6-2 6-0 against Canada's Bianca Andreescu. In a good day for the Canadians, Eugenie Bouchard also beat Kayla Day 7-5 6-3 as the former world number five fights her way back up the rankings after a long injury layoff.

Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto defeated Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-2 6-1, while Latvia's top talent Jelena Ostapenko cruised past America's Lauren Davis 6-1 6-3.

Madison Keys was too strong for Magda Linette in a 6-3 6-3 triumph, and in an all-Czech matchup, Marie Bouzkova downed Tereza Martincova 6-2 7-5.

Croatia's Donna Vekic eliminated Brazil's Laura Pigossi 6-4 6-1, and Italy's Martina Trevisan showed why she is top-30 in the world with a convincing 6-4 6-3 straight sets win against Japan's Nao Hibino.

In the last match of the night, world number 10 Caroline Garcia survived an early scared to come from behind and defeat Rebecca Marino 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-5).

Grigor Dimitrov crashed out of the Stockholm Open to the unseeded Jiri Lehecka in a three-set thriller on Tuesday, as Botic van de Zandschulp also fell at the first hurdle at the European Open.

Dimitrov, seeded sixth in the Swedish capital, came up short against Lehecka, who seized a surprise 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-5) win, his first on the ATP Tour since July.

Victory for Alex de Minaur was far more predictable, a 150th at tour level coming courtesy of a straight-sets defeat of Benjamin Bonzi.

In Antwerp, Dominic Stricker handed Van de Zandschulp a swift exit, winning 6-2 6-4 to stay on Lehecka's coat tails in pursuit of a place at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Stricker's reward for this win will be a second-round encounter with French veteran Richard Gasquet, who knocked out three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka on Monday.

At the Napoli Cup, fifth seed Miomir Kecmanovic saw off wildcard Flavio Cobolli with ease, but others found life rather tougher.

Respective seventh and eighth seeds Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Adrian Mannarino fell to Nuno Borges and Pedro Cachin.

Victoria Azarenka has booked a clash with the top seed of the Guadalajara Open after defeating Elina Avanesyan 6-4 6-2 in Monday's opening round.

In the last event of the season before the WTA Finals, Belarus' Azarenka was too strong with her return game for her Russian opponent, winning 53 per cent (32-of-60) of her return points while capitalising on five-of-seven break point opportunities to earn a shot at world number eight Paula Badosa.

While Azarenka has no chance of qualifying for the WTA Finals – with only the top-eight players in the rankings making it through – Belinda Bencic is one of the players who can sneak in with a great result this week.

Needing to make the semi-finals to have a chance, she got off on the right foot with a 7-5 6-7 (10-12) 6-3 win against Leylah Fernandez in her opening match.

Petra Kvitova can also qualify if she reaches the final, and she started without issue, defeating Bernarda Pera 6-3 7-5.

Ekaterina Alexandrova had an outside chance of claiming a WTA Finals spot if she won this tournament, but she was the victim of the day's biggest upset, falling 6-4 7-6 (10-8) to Camila Osorio.

At 22nd in the world, Liudmila Samsonova is the lowest-ranked player in the field with a mathematical chance at qualification, but she is a step closer after handling Kaia Kanepi 6-1 7-5.

Despite Fernandez's earlier loss, it was a strong day for the Canadians, with Bianca Andreescu proving too good in her 6-2 6-4 victory against Jil Teichmann, and Rebecca Marino also only needed two sets to defeat Ann Li 6-2 7-6 (7-2).

China's Lin Zhu came from a set behind to beat France's Alize Cornet 3-6 6-3 6-4, while Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk had a much quicker result in her 6-1 6-3 triumph over Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

World number 34 Elise Mertens had no problems in one of the biggest mismatches of the day as she defeated world number 185 Asia Muhammad 6-3 6-2, and Sloane Stephens needed only 54 minutes to advance 6-0 6-2 past Linda Fruhvirtova.

In the last match of the night, Mexico's top chance Fernanda Contreras Gomez was eliminated by Alja Tomljanovic 6-2 6-1.

Holger Rune maintained his impressive form by beating Thiago Monteiro in straight sets to reach the second round of the Stockholm Open on Monday.

Rune was beaten by Marc-Andrea Huesler in the final of the last tournament he entered in Sofia following a quarter-final appearance in Metz.

The Danish teenager, who last week announced Patrick Mouratoglou had joined his team for the rest of this season, defeated Monteiro 7-5 6-2 on his debut in the Swedish capital.

Rune did not face a break point and won 86 per cent of points on his first serve as he booked a meeting with Cristian Garin.

Garin beat qualifier Jason Kubler 6-2 6-4, while Maxime Cressy and Aslan Karatsev advanced to the last 16 at the expense of Ilya Ivashka and Lukas Rosol respectively.

Richard Gasquet consigned Stan Wawrinka to an early exit at the European Open, coming from a set down to win 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 in a battle of two of the most experienced players on the circuit.

Fifth seed Dan Evans beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-3 6-4 in the first round in Antwerp, while his fellow Brit Jack Draper was an emphatic 6-1 6-2 winner against Jenson Brooksby of the United States.

Iga Swiatek says she "wanted to go all in" to ensure she won her eighth WTA Tour title of 2022 with a 6-3 3-6 6-0 victory over Donna Vekic in the San Diego Open final on Sunday.

Swiatek became the fifth player since 2000 to win eight or more WTA-level titles in a single season after Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin.

She did not have it all her own way against Vekic, with the Croatian world number 47 battling back from losing the opener to take the second set and level the match.

But Swiatek showed her class in the decisive third set, breaking Vekic three times to romp to the title.

The world number one says she had to give it everything to ensure victory over Vekic in a tough match, saying at her on-court presentation: "It was a really tight match and pretty long.

"We felt the intensity for sure. At the end I wanted to be the one who played the last ball in. I wanted to go all in.

"Knowing how well she can serve, I just wanted to be more loosened up on my return games - not think too much, use my intuition and fight for every ball."

With her round-of-16 win over Zheng Qinwen, Swiatek became the first player to win 61 matches in a single season since Caroline Wozniacki in 2017.

Frighteningly for her opponents, the 21-year-old spoke after that win of her belief that she was still a few years away from her prime.

"I wasn't expecting to have this kind of season this year," Swiatek told reporters. 

"I thought, maybe, I'm going to be at my peak when I'm 24, 25, and have that experience, maybe results like that are going to come."

Swiatek's 64 wins in 2022 is the most for any woman since Serena Williams' 78 in 2013, while the Pole has lost just one match in the United States this year.

Swiatek intends to take full advantage of San Diego's sun and sand as she celebrates another title, making it 11 wins and just two defeats in finals.

"I am speechless," the 21-year-old said in a video on Twitter. "I'm so proud of me and the team that we actually won this tournament.

"It wasn't easy so I'm happy that I believe in myself and I fought to the last point.

"I love San Diego, I'm going to enjoy the beach tomorrow!"