Rybakina Survives Osaka in Three Sets to Reach Toronto Semi-Finals
Elena Rybakina edged Naomi Osaka 4-6 7-6 6-4 in the standout match of the day in Toronto, while the qualifying draws in Cincinnati narrowed to a single round and the Challenger circuit in Hamburg and Astana reached the last eight.
- 14
- Aces
- 3
- 6
- Double faults
- 6
- 57%
- 1st serve in
- 62%
- 73%
- 1st serve points won
- 65%
- 47%
- 2nd serve points won
- 54%
- 61%
- Service points won
- 61%
- 4/7
- Break points saved
- 3/6
The headline act of the day belonged to Elena Rybakina, who came from a set down to beat Naomi Osaka 4-6 7-6 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the WTA event in Toronto. It was the kind of contest that turned on a handful of points: Osaka took the opener and pushed Rybakina to a second-set tie-break, but once the Kazakh had rescued that set she found the extra hold of serve she needed in the decider. On a hard court that rewards first-strike tennis, the margins between the two hitters were minimal, and the scoreline reflects it.
While Toronto moved into its business end, Cincinnati spent the day compressing its qualifying draws. On the ATP side, Sho Shimabukuro was the most convincing winner, dismissing Hugo Dellien 6-3 6-1, and Luca Van Assche was similarly efficient against Gustavo Heide, 6-3 6-4. The tighter routes belonged to Quentin Halys, who recovered from a set down to beat Soon Woo Kwon 4-6 7-6 6-4, and to Dusan Lajovic, whose 2-6 7-6 7-6 win over Benjamin Bonzi was the longest and most stubborn of the session. Stefanos Sakellaridis got past Martin Damm 6-4 7-6, and Alexandra Wolf came through a three-setter against Shintaro Mochizuki, 6-2 2-6 6-3.
The women's qualifying rounds produced a similar mix of routine and resistance. Aoi Ito was the most emphatic winner of the day, needing only 6-1 6-1 against Solana Sierra, while Harriet Dart conceded just three games to Moyuka Uchijima in a 6-3 6-0 win. Alina Korneeva, Lucrezia Stefanini, Anna Blinkova, Claire Liu, Alina Charaeva and Hanne Vandewinkel all advanced in straight sets. Oksana Selekhmeteva, Leolia Jeanjean and Eva Lys required three, Lys recovering from a set down against Katarzyna Kawa to win 5-7 6-1 6-4.
On the Challenger circuit, the clay of Hamburg offered the day's most attritional tennis. Dylan Dietrich came through two tie-breaks against Vitaliy Sachko, 7-6 7-6, without ever securing a break of serve, and Niels Mcdonald reversed an opening-set deficit to beat Eduardo Ribeiro 4-6 6-3 6-4. In Astana, on hard courts, Mert Alkaya accounted for home player Beibit Zhukayev 6-3 6-4, Hayato Matsuoka was ruthless against Takuya Kumasaka 6-4 6-1, Khumoun Sultanov saw off Lucio Ratti 6-4 7-5, and Fajing Sun recovered to beat Semen Pankin 4-6 7-6 6-3.
Tomorrow the Cincinnati qualifiers reach their decisive stage, and the ATP draw offers the most compelling pairing in Luca Van Assche (#49) against Dusan Lajovic (#149), a meeting of the day's cleanest performance and its most obstinate survivor. Halys (#54) faces Bu Yunchaokete (#118), Marcos Giron (#81) meets Henrique Rocha (#125), and Jaime Faria (#79) plays Wu Yibing (#116). The most closely watched fixture may be Marco Trungelliti (#90) against the unranked Kei Nishikori, while Shimabukuro (#94) takes on Wolf and Jacob Fearnley (#110) faces Nicolas Mejia (#129).
The women's schedule is no less dense. Eva Lys (#85) meets Anna Blinkova (#108) in the standout duel of the round, and Alina Korneeva (#89) faces compatriot Alina Charaeva (#114) in an all-Alina tie. Oksana Selekhmeteva (#100) plays Mary Stoiana (#127), Sinja Kraus (#81) meets Claire Liu (#116), and Lanlana Tararudee (#79) and Mananchaya Sawangkaew (#109) contest an all-Thai match. Lilli Tagger (#46) opens against the unranked Robin Montgomery.