MASON, Ohio — Top-ranked Ash Barty will make her first Western & Southern final appearance on Sunday, while Andrey Rublev will do the same on the men’s side.
The 25-year-old Barty used a strong service game to survive a challenge from No. 22 Angelique Kerber and reach the women’s final with a 6-2, 7-5 semifinal win, also on Saturday.
Barty ripped 12 aces, while the 33-year-old Kerber had only one.
“I think I did a pretty good job with my service games,” Barty said. “I served well and got some cheap points. Angie is a hell of a returner, one of the best in the game, and I wanted to take that away.”
Kerber will face the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal between fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova and wild-card Jil Teichmann on Sunday.
“She has so much confidence right now,” Kerber said of Barty. “She plays so well. Her serve is good. It’s a big weapon from her, and she’s playing tricky as well. She knows where to put the ball and how to play the moment. That’s why she is where she is.”
The seventh-ranked Rublev came from behind to upset No. 2 and top-seeded Daniil Medvedev, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Saturday’s first men’s semifinal.
Medvedev, the 2019 champion and 2020 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, overcame a run-in with a television camera, but he couldn’t get past his fellow Russian.
Rublev, who won for the first time in five meetings with Medvedev, advances to the final against the winner of the match between second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas and third-seeded Alexander Zverev.
Medvedev ran into a courtside camera while chasing down a shot in the third game of the second set. The right-hander then kicked the camera before being treated for an injury to his left hand during the changeover.
He also received treatment on his right forearm before the sixth game of the third set.