Rybakina Survives Scare to Reach Quarter-Finals; Eala, Fernandez Eliminated

Both sessions boasted incredible lineups. The day saw two of the best players of the 2020s in action, while the night featured two young lefties who tend to shine under the lights.

CENTRE COURT – Starts at 12:30 PM

• [2] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) d. Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
  • Considering the elite serves possessed by the two women leading off Centre Court, the first set did not go the way many would have expected. Six of the first eight games were breaks and yet not of them were decisive. The seventh and final break of a bizarre first set went the way of Rybakina as Samsonova served to stay in it. The second set was more as expected, with just a single break making the difference. Rybakina had two looks to seize control at 2-2 but could not convert and proceeded to be broken in the following game. Unlike the first set when she was broken four times, Samsonova clung on to her delivery the rest of the way to level the match. She then raced out of the gate in the decider, breaking Rybakina twice on her way to a 3-0 lead. However, she failed to consolidate the second break which gave the Australian Open champion a spark. Rybakina dug in and won six of the next seven games, holding break points in all of Samsonova's service games and breaking three times, including to love to complete the comeback. 
• [4] Coco Gauff (USA) d. [Q] Alina Korneeva 6-3, 6-1
  • Korneeva had delivered back-to-back impressive performances to knock out American seeds, but the world No. 4 was a bridge too far. For a moment it looked the teen might give Gauff a hard time when she broke in the opening game, but the two-time major champion responded with a break right back, kicking off a run of five games in a row, including three breaks. Gauff was picking her opponent apart with her return game, holding break points in every single one of Korneeva's service games in the match and breaking seven times. The teen's only game won in the second set was a break of Gauff's serve as the No. 4 seed broke four times to wrap up the match after 75 minutes.

Not before 7:00 PM  

• [11] Naomi Osaka (JPN) d. [30] Leylah Annie Fernandez (CAN) 6-4, 6-4
  • Fernandez put up a fight against the four-time major champion, but Osaka was too dialled in for the last Canadian standing in Toronto. In the first set, Osaka broke first but Fernandez responded immediately. The Japanese broke again late and the Canadian had two break points to get back on serve, but this time she could not convert. From there, Osaka locked in. She did not face another break point in the match and only needed one break in the second set to reach the quarter-finals. READ MORE
• [12] Belinda Bencic (SUI) d. [25] Alexandra Eala (PHI) 6-4, 4-0
  • Bencic put an emphatic end to the young Filipina's debut run in Toronto in the final match of the round of 16. The 2015 Toronto champion was all over Eala's serve throughout the match, breaking three times in each set. Eala fought hard in the first, breaking back twice but could not do it a third time. In the second set, the weight of all the matches over the last two weeks seemed to be taking its toll. Eala had no answer for Bencic's big hitting and was blown away, getting broken in each of her service games and never creating a break-point chance in the 28-minute set.

GRANDSTAND – starts at 12:30 PM

• Tereza Mihalikova (SVK) / Olivia Nicholls (GBR) d. Erin Routliffe (NZL) / Aldila Sutjiadi (INA) 6-3, 7-5
  • Mihalikova and Nicholls got off to a strong start, breaking in the opening game and defending their serve through the first set. They were not broken and capped off the opener with another break of their own. After saving a couple of break points midway through the second, the Slovakian-British pair converted their opportunity to go up 5-3 and serve for the match, but could not seal the deal. Still, they made a late push to get out of it before the breaker and succeeded by breaking Routliffe and Sutjiadi as they served to stay in it at 5-6. 

Not before 4:00 PM

• [3] Sara Errani (ITA) / Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) d. [7] Ellen Perez (AUS) / Demi Schuurs (NED) 6-2, 6-2
  • Errani and Melichar-Martinez set the tone with a break in the opening game and never relented. They broke twice in each set while saving all five break points they faced (all of them in the second set) to advance in just under an hour.
• [5] Su-wei Hsieh (TPE) / Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) d. Ann Li (USA) / Clara Tauson (DEN) 7-6(4), 6-4
  • Hsieh and Ostapenko had to battle in the opening set, rallying from a break down early and scoring a crucial break to love when their opponents served for the set after breaking in the eighth game. The fifth seeds then saved a set point on their own serve in the 12th game before grinding out the tiebreak. They then raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second but things got dicey when they could not hold their serve down the stretch. Despite getting broken in their final three service games, Hsieh and Ostapenko managed to break twice, including for the match, to sneak it out in straights. 

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