Ekaterina Alexandrova knocked out Aryna Sabalenka in Toronto, edging the world number one 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 to reach the Canadian Open quarter-finals after almost two and a half hours on court.
The result ended Sabalenka’s run in Toronto and sent Alexandrova, the number 16 seed, into a meeting with Elina Svitolina for a place in the semi-finals. For Alexandrova, it was the kind of win that turns a draw from routine into a live event, and for Sabalenka it was another painful stop in a summer that has not matched her ranking.
Alexandrova said she tried to treat every point as if it were the last one because, against Sabalenka, chances do not come often. She said she was relieved to get through because after the second set she thought the opportunity had already gone. That mattered because Sabalenka had already forced the match into a decider after losing the opening set, so the contest still looked alive when it entered the third.
Then the break came on the most fragile of moments. Sabalenka was serving to stay in the match when she double faulted, and the top seed was out. The ending fit the shape of her summer: since winning the Miami Open in March, she has not reached another final, and the defeats have stacked up at the French Open and Wimbledon before this one in Toronto.
Alexandrova’s win sits at the center of a busy day in the draw, but it is the upset of Sabalenka that changes the conversation. The world number one is gone before the semi-finals, while Alexandrova moves on with the clearest proof yet that her seeding no longer tells the full story. Her next match against Svitolina will decide whether this is remembered as a sharp result or the start of a deeper run.
Cameron Norrie also lost in Montreal, falling 6-2 7-6 (10-8) to Arthur Fils after saving three match points in the second set, while Diana Shnaider beat Jessica Pegula 6-3 6-3 and Iga Swiatek defeated Marta Kostyuk 3-6 6-1 6-2. Those results make the Canadian Open feel less like a steady march than a tournament still asking hard questions of the players near the top.
