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Leylah Fernandez is two wins away from defending her title at the Hong Kong Tennis Open.

The Canadian, seeded third, downed No. 9 seed Bernarda Pera of the U.S. 6-1, 7-6 (7) in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Fernandez, ranked 32nd in the world, is on a nice run on the Asian swing after making the quarterfinals last week in Tokyo.

Fernandez, of Laval, Que., saved five of six break points against Pera.

The Canadian will face top seed Diana Shnaider of Russia in the semifinals on Saturday. Shnaider beat unseeded Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 in Friday’s other quarterfinal.

It’s Fernandez’s first semifinal appearance since reaching the final of the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, England, in June.

No. 2 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain meets No. 6 seed Yuan Yue of China in the other semi.

–with files from The Canadian Press