Rybakina Survives Osaka Test to Reach Canadian Open Semi-Finals
Elena Rybakina came back from a set and a break down to beat Naomi Osaka 4-6, 7-6(7-5), 6-4 in the Canadian Open quarter-final in Toronto, sealing victory with her 15th ace of the match after two hours and 33 minutes on Centre Court.
The second seed trailed 4-2 in the second set before turning the match around. The tiebreak — a first-to-seven shootout used to decide a set that reaches 6-6 — went Rybakina's way 7-5, and she carried that momentum through a tight decider. Both players won exactly 106 points each across the 214 played, a measure of how close this one was (BBC Sport).
It was the first career meeting between Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon and 2026 Australian Open champion, and Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner. The occasion delivered. Rybakina hit 72 unforced errors, her highest single-match total this season, and still found a way through. When she needed a finish, the serve delivered — the ace on match point her 15th of the afternoon (BBC Sport).
Osaka arrived in the last eight on the back of a straight-sets win over local favourite and 30th seed Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 6-4 (WTA). After the loss to Rybakina, Osaka announced she was withdrawing from next week's Cincinnati Open — the last tournament before the US Open — citing fatigue (BBC Sport).
Rybakina's path to this point had been far from smooth either. She recovered from 0-3 and two breaks down in the final set of her previous match to beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 (Al Jazeera). Two matches, two comeback wins, two gruelling three-setters.
Rybakina now faces Coco Gauff in the semi-finals. Gauff advanced without hitting a ball — Belinda Bencic withdrew from their quarter-final with a hip injury (BBC Sport). On the other side of the draw, Iga Swiatek swept past Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-1, while Elina Svitolina recovered from a set down to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
What stands out from this quarter-final is the sheer stubbornness of Rybakina's effort. Seventy-two unforced errors would sink most players on most days. She compensated with 15 aces, clutch play in the tiebreak, and enough nerve to break Osaka when it mattered most. The match was level on points. It was decided by who held firm in the moments that tilted either way.
For Osaka, the Cincinnati withdrawal raises an obvious question about her readiness for Flushing Meadows — though fatigue, after a run of matches in Toronto that included a testing win over Fernandez, can be managed. For Rybakina, the semi-final against Gauff now shapes as the true barometer: can she find a cleaner performance against a player who will punish 72 unforced errors far more ruthlessly?
