Diyas stuns McHale to reach Tokyo final

World number 100 Diyas had to force her way through qualifying in Tokyo but has booked a place in her second WTA final after a 6-4 0-6 6-3 triumph over the American.

McHale broke the Kazakh in the opening game but Diyas fought back to level in the fourth game and went on to claim the first set.

McHale, who beat Katerina Siniakova in last year's final, then rattled through the second set, winning all three of her break points to set up a decider.

But Diyas, whose previous tour final was also on Japanese soil in Osaka in 2014, managed to stem the tide of McHale games and refocus in the third set to claim a memorable victory.