After rain played havoc with the ASB Classic schedule on Friday, a busy Saturday in Auckland ended with Naomi Osaka and Clara Tauson making their long-awaited returns into a WTA singles final.

Former World No.1 Osaka booked her spot with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alycia Parks. Osaka took 1 hour and 11 minutes to oust Parks, sealing a spot in her first final since a runner-up finish to Iga Swiatek at 2022 Miami.

Tauson ended an even longer drought -- she made her first tour-level final since 2021 by defeating first-time WTA semifinalist Robin Montgomery 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday.

No.7 seed Osaka and No.5 seed Tauson will now square off for the WTA 250 title on Sunday. This will be the first career meeting between the two powerful hitters.

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"I’ve actually never gotten to the final of the tournament the week before Melbourne, so this is like a career first for me," two-time Australian Open champion Osaka said on court. "I’m really happy there’s always constantly things to improve or to get better, no matter how old you are."

Osaka was down 3-1 in the first set on Saturday, but she regrouped and reeled off four games in a row to lead 5-3. Parks fired an ace to hold for 5-4 and garnered two break points in the following game, but Osaka battled all the way back and clinched the one-set lead.

Serving for the match at 5-2 in the second set, Osaka came up against a barrage of powerful shots by Parks and fell behind 0-40. But Osaka's stellar serve got her out of that jam, and she wrapped up a come-from-behind hold with a sturdy backhand.

"I was just trying to survive," Osaka said. "[Parks] was hitting such amazing shots, and I just kept thinking to myself, ‘Give her one more ball to play, try to get lucky.’ I know there was one net cord ball that I really needed -- so I’m really sorry to her, but I needed that!"

This week marks Osaka's first WTA semifinal and final since her return from maternity leave 12 months ago. Osaka is now one match-win away from collecting her first title of any kind since she claimed her fourth Grand Slam title at the 2021 Australian Open. 

Parks was contesting her first WTA semifinal since she won her maiden singles title at Lyon nearly two years ago. Parks played two matches on Saturday, winning a rain-delayed quarterfinal indoors over her fellow American Katie Volynets 6-1, 6-4 to start the day.

Tauson wins two matches on Saturday, makes first final since 2021

As for Tauson, the former Junior World No.1 won two WTA titles and reached an additional final in her breakthrough 2021 season, but she had not played for another WTA singles trophy since then.

That all changed after Tauson won two matches on Saturday. First, the Danish No.1 finished off a 6-4, 7-6(7) quarterfinal upset of No.1 seed Madison Keys of the United States. That match had been postponed overnight due to rain with Tauson ahead 6-4, 3-4.

Tauson followed up with her semifinal victory over another American, Montgomery. Tauson held 14 break points in that match, breaking Montgomery four times on her way into Sunday's final.

"I really worked hard to get to this level again after many injuries, so I’m super happy with this result," Tauson said after her win. "Robin is a great player and we had a great match today, I think. I’m just happy that I kept my cool and won it today.

"It’s been some years since I’ve been in a final like this. I’m just going to try to enjoy it as much as I can."