Sabalenka, Pegula Upset; Swiatek Fights Past Kostyuk into Quarter-Finals

The seedings had held completely through three rounds in Toronto, meaning every matchup on Saturday was the best possible matchup by ranking in the top half of the draw. All of the singles matches were be on Centre Court on Saturday, led off by a Roland-Garros rematch.

Centre Court - Starting at 12:30 PM

• [7] Iga Swiatek (POL) d. [10] Marta Kostyuk (UKR) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
  • The serve was not working for Swiatek at all in set one. The Pole failed to hold serve in four attempts and while she did break Kostyuk three times, with seven of nine total games in the first set going to the returner, it was not enough. However, the six-time major champion turned things around in set two. She got her first hold of the day in the opening game and then broke for a quick 2-0 lead. Iga's Bakery was in business as she added a second break, taking the set 6-1. Swiatek then broke again to start the third and added another to go up 5-1. Serving out sets was a problem for the Pole. In the second, she had to save three break points and needed four set points to finish it off. Set three was even tougher, as she failed to close it out from 40-love up and had to save a pair of break points before finally closing out the win on match point No. 6. After having not held serve in the first set, she was not broken in sets two and three. 
• [15] Diana Shnaider d. [3] Jessica Pegula (USA) 6-3, 6-3 
  • Something about Toronto agrees with Shnaider. Two years after losing to Pegula in the semis at Sobeys Stadium, Shnaider got her revenge. She scored a late break in a relatively quiet first set before turning up the heat midway through set two. Shnaider piled on the pressure throughout, initially breaking to go up 2-1 although she was immediately broken right back. After missing a love-40 opening in the American's next service game, Shnaider ran away with it late, breaking twice as part of a four-game run to complete the upset.

Not before 7:00 PM

• [16] Ekaterina Alexandrova d. [1] Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4
  • Sabalenka's game was not clicking through most of this one, while Alexandrova played like a woman inspired. The first set was a back-and-forth, with each woman rallying from a break down at least once. Alexandrova missed her chance to serve out the set in the 12th game after breaking for 6-5 but she did not drop a point on her serve in the ensuing tiebreak to take the lead. Three missed break points cost Alexandrova a chance to finish off the match in two sets and she dropped serve in the seventh game. Sabalenka got the two holds she needed to send the match to a decider. She then broke to start the third but Alexandrova still was not going away. Just like the first set, she broke back and reeled off four straight games to go up 4-1. Sabalenka clawed back, breaking to eventually draw level at 4-all, but serving to stay in it, the world No. 1 cracked. She saved a pair of match points but on the third, double-faulted to crash out of the tournament.
• [9] Elina Svitolina (UKR) d. [8] Amanda Anisimova (USA) 6-2, 6-4
  • For the second match in a row, Svitolina did not start her match until 10 pm. It looked like she was going to deliver a repeat performance of her round-three win when she raced through the first set in 29 minutes and had four match points on Anisimova's serve in the seventh game of the second set already up a double break. The 2024 Toronto runner-up managed to escape that game then broke to love as she clawed back to within a game. But on the second time of asking, Svitolina made no mistake, holding to love to reach the quarter-finals.

Grandstand - Starting at 12:30 PM

• Ann Li (USA) / Clara Tauson (DEN) d. Ingrid Neel (EST) / Giuliana Olmos (MEX) 4-6, 7-6(3), 11-9
  • The third time was the charm as both pairs failed to convert two match points before Li and Tauson got it done on their third. They looked finished when they lost the first set and twice trailed by a break in the second. Neel and Olmos had two match points on their own serve at 5-4 but could not finish it off. They failed to serve it out a second time before dropping the breaker to go to a match tiebreak. Li and Tauson then led 9-7, only to see those two match points evaporate. However, they got a third chance at 10-9 and were able to seal the deal.
• [5] Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) / Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) d. Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) / Quinn Gleason (USA) 6-4, 7-6(1)
  • Hsieh and Ostapenko started slowly, facing a break point in the opening game before getting broken in their second service game and falling behind 3-1. That woke them up, though, as they proceeded to win five of the next six games, breaking twice including to take the set in the 10th game. The pairs then traded breaks through the first seven games of the second set but neither team was able to pull away. Hsieh and Ostapenko dominated the tiebreak, losing just one point to punch their ticket to the quarter-finals.

Not before 4:00 pm

• [1] K. Siniakova / S. Zhang d. Coco Gauff (USA) / Caty McNally (USA) 6-0, 6-4
  • The top seeds were ruthless to start the match, converting all three of their break points in the opening set, which they won in just 23 minutes. They broke early in the second but Gauff and McNally stopped them from running away with it by immediately breaking back. Still, it was just delaying the inevitable as Siniakova and Zhang broke in the seventh game which proved to be decisive.

Not before 6:00 pm

• [6] Elise Mertens (BEL) / Diana Shnaider d. Xinyu Jiang (CHN) / Fang-Hsien Wu (TPE) 6-3, 6-3
  • Shnaider was seeing double on Saturday, as she was a winner in doubles by the same scoreline as her singles victory earlier in the day. The two sets in this match were very different, with Mertens and Shnaider scoring the lone break of the first set but needing four breaks to take the second, sandwiching being broken with two breaks of their own on two separate occasions.

Court 4 - Starts at 12:30

• [7] Ellen Perez (AUS) / Demi Schuurs (NED) vs Asia Muhammad (USA) / Fanny Stollar (HUN) 6-4, 6-2 
  • Perez and Schuurs took some time to get going, dropping serve early to fall behind 3-1, but from there, they dominated. The Aussie-Danish pair won five of the next six games to take the set and then took four in a row from 2-2 in the second to advance.
• [3] Sara Errani (ITA) / Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) d. Miyu Kato (JPN) / Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-2
  • From 1-1 in the first set, the third seeds broke four times in a row to take the opener and go up an early break in the second. They saved the only three break points they faced in set two, wrapping up the win in just over an hour
• Storm Hunter (AUS) / Desirae Krawczyk (USA) d. Hao-Ching Chan (TPE) / Maya Joint (AUS) 6-2, 6-2
  • Hunter and Krawczyk were in control from start to finish. They broke to go up 2-1 in each set and added a second break later on both times. They actually faced more break points in the match but saved all eight, while being ruthlessly efficient on return, converting four of their five opportunities. 

The WTA's best return to Toronto for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers Aug 1 to 13 at Sobeys Stadium. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo : Mark Blinch/Wick Photography for National Bank Open