World number two Elena Rybakina survived a major scare to reach the Canadian Open quarter-finals in Toronto on Sunday. Kazakhstan’s Rybakina recovered from a 0-3 deficit and two breaks down in the final set to defeat Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Rybakina is set to face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the next round. Osaka advanced by eliminating home favorite Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-4, breaking serve in the seventh game of each set to wrap up the match in 82 minutes.
The 13th-ranked Osaka, who has never faced Rybakina previously, emphasized that maintaining sound groundstrokes was the key to her success. “When I feel comfortable or at least confident in myself knowing I can run things down, I loosen up a lot,” Osaka said. She added, “I need to be confident in myself, execute what I can and at the end of the day just try my best and whatever happens happens.”
Reflecting on her opponent, Osaka noted, “It was all pretty good for me. She has a great attitude. She’s consistent and she will fight. She’s kind of like a bulldog.”
Fourth-ranked American Coco Gauff also cruised into the quarter-finals, sweeping aside Russian teenage qualifier Alina Korneeva 6-3, 6-1. Gauff, who has not dropped a set in Canada, reached the last eight for the first time since 2023. “My main focus today was let me try and close it out,” Gauff said. “Probably not the way I should be thinking but it worked today. I’m proud of how the last three matches have gone and just knowing if I have to go the distance I’m ready, but obviously would prefer to cut it short if I can.”
Gauff will next meet 14th-ranked Swiss player Belinda Bencic. Bencic secured her spot by defeating 20th-ranked Alexandra Eala, a Filipina who won her first WTA title last week in Washington, with a 6-4, 6-0 scoreline in just 73 minutes.
Bencic dominated the match, connecting on 64.4% of her first serves and winning 72.4% of those points. The victory marked her 10th consecutive win over left-handed opponents. “I hate to play against lefties so I’m surprised by this statistic,” Bencic admitted. “Very tricky. Maybe it helped me that I played a lefty the round before against Taylor Townsend. I got used to the serve a little bit. I wish I was a lefty too.”
