Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina (2nd seed) outlasted Japan's Naomi Osaka (13th seed) in a tense three-set battle 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 6:4 to advance to the semifinals of the Canadian Open, reports infohub.kz.
Notably, the 28-year-old Osaka and 27-year-old Rybakina had never met on court before this match. Their quarterfinal in Toronto was their first career meeting.
Osaka broke early in the opening set and held the advantage to take it 6-4. In the second set, Osaka twice broke Rybakina's serve, but Rybakina responded in kind, and then edged the tiebreak 7-5.
In the decisive set, Rybakina's serve finally clicked into high gear, which seemed to break her opponent's spirit. Breaking in the seventh game, the Kazakhstani closed out the match. Final score: 4:6, 7:6 (7:5), 6:4. The match lasted 2 hours 33 minutes. Rybakina fired 15 aces to Osaka's 3, committed 6 double faults (same as her opponent), and outpointed the Japanese 111-107.
In the semifinals, Rybakina will face American Coco Gauff, who is ranked fourth in the world. Gauff advanced to the semifinals without a fight due to the withdrawal of Swiss Belinda Bencic (14th seed).
The Canadian Open dates back to 1881, when the first men's tournament was held. Women's competition began 11 years later.
In even-numbered years, the women's tournament is held in Toronto and the men's in Montreal. Since 2011, the hard-court events, part of the US Open Series, have been held concurrently.
This year's WTA-1000 tournament in Toronto is officially called the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. Its prize money is $7.4 million.
Past champions include Americans Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles, Serena Williams, German Steffi Graf, Swiss Martina Hingis, Belgians Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, and other stars.
Defending champion Victoria Mboko is missing this year's home tournament due to injury. In the 2025 semifinals, the Canadian beat Rybakina 1:6, 7:5, 7:6 (7:4), and then defeated Osaka in the final 2:6, 6:4, 6:1.