Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked female player in the world, was shocked by an unexpected loss at the Canadian Open just weeks ahead of starting her title defense at the US Open, while British competitor Cameron Norrie was also eliminated in the round of 16.
In a grueling match that lasted nearly two and a half hours in Toronto, Sabalenka fell 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4 to Russian opponent Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Although the Belarusian player fought back after losing the first set to send the match into a third, a double fault while trying to hold her serve to remain in the contest gifted the win to the 16th seed.
This setback marks the latest disappointment in a challenging summer campaign for Sabalenka, who previously exited in the quarter-finals of the French Open and the round of 16 at Wimbledon.
“My approach was simply to contest every point like it was my final one, because you do not get many opportunities when facing her,” Alexandrova remarked.
“I am absolutely thrilled to come away with the win because, once the second set ended, I felt as though the opportunity had slipped away from me.”
The Russian player is scheduled to play Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina for a spot in the semi-finals, following Svitolina’s 6-2, 6-4 triumph over the eighth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova.
Third seed Jessica Pegula experienced her very first defeat against Diana Shnaider, with the 22-year-old delivering strong finishes in both sets to claim a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
The Russian athlete will go on to meet Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, after the seventh seed recovered from first-set service struggles to beat the tenth-seeded Marta Kostyuk 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
The six-time major champion went back to the locker room following a chaotic 39-minute opening set where Kostyuk broke her service game four times, but she showed a vast improvement upon her return.
Over in the men’s draw in Montreal, Great Britain’s number two Cameron Norrie wasted a pair of set points during his 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) defeat at the hands of the 18th seed Arthur Fils.
Norrie managed to fend off three match points during the second set to push it to a tie-break, but the French player ultimately secured the win in one hour and 43 minutes after breaking his serve.
Fils is set to go up against Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar in the last eight, following the 19-year-old’s surprising 6-3, 6-3 victory over eighth seed Jiri Lehecka.
Elsewhere, Brandon Nakashima and Luciano Darderi both advanced to the upcoming round after surviving demanding three-set battles against Arthur Rinderknech and Nuno Borges, respectively.
The Italian competitor, Darderi, even took advantage of a mid-match break to sip on an espresso while fighting his way to a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
