Johanna Konta fell short in her bid to make the Western & Southern Open final but there was an emotional win for Naomi Osaka.
Konta drew first blood in the semi-final but the two-time grand slam winner came back to win 4-6 6-4 6-1.
Osaka defeated Belgium's Elise Mertens 6-2 7-6 (7-5) in a match that very nearly did not go ahead.
The 2018 US Open champion initially pulled out in protest at the shooting of Jacob Blake, before Thursday's action was suspended and she decided to take part after a meeting with the WTA and USTA.
"For me it's been a little bit stressful, I couldn't really sleep last night so I'm really glad I was able to play at a pretty good level," Osaka said.
"I'm really glad I didn't mentally collapse. I was down a break in the second and I got really tight in the tie-break so I'm really glad I didn't just dip."
For Konta, it ends a positive week.
The British number one, who was aiming to make her ninth career final, looked somewhere back to her best.
Although she will be disappointed not to be contesting the final, her defeat does at least give her the weekend off ahead of next week’s US Open, where she has to be considered one of the contenders for the New York grand slam given her form this week.
Konta broke in the fifth game of the match and then saw the opening set out, eventually sealing it 6-4 on her eighth set point.
Neither player was able to dominate their serve in the second set, with five breaks, but Azarenka got three of them to even the match up.
Konta was not having the same penetration as in the first set and Azarenka claimed an early break to lead 3-1 and then followed it up with another.
The Belarusian, who is enjoying something of a renaissance following several years in the doldrums after injuries and a custody battle over her son, then served it out to claim a memorable win.
