Sabalenka Suffers Toronto Shock as Alexandrova Stuns Top Seed in Canadian Open
Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one and top seed, was knocked out of the Canadian Open in Toronto on 9 August, losing 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16.
The match lasted almost two and a half hours. Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, had arrived in Toronto with a 36-6 record for the 2026 season and told reporters she had high hopes for the upcoming US Open, the year's final major (Reuters). Instead, she leaves Toronto with another early exit in a summer that has refused to go her way.
Sabalenka was beaten in the quarter-finals of the French Open and the last 16 of Wimbledon earlier this summer. This was her third consecutive deep-tournament departure. The loss in Toronto is perhaps the sharpest of the three — she was the top seed at the Canadian Open for the first time, and reaching the last 16 had already guaranteed she would hold on to the world number one ranking regardless of results (WTA). The ranking stays. The momentum does not.
Alexandrova now faces Elina Svitolina for a place in the semi-finals. Svitolina reached the last eight by dispatching Amanda Anisimova 6-2 6-4.
On the other side of the draw, Jessica Pegula also fell. She suffered her first career defeat to Diana Shnaider, going down 6-3 6-3. Shnaider's reward is a semi-final against Iga Swiatek, who recovered from a set down to beat Marta Kostyuk 3-6 6-1 6-2 in the quarter-finals.
In the men's event in Montreal, Cameron Norrie's run came to an end against France's Arthur Fils. Norrie lost 6-2 7-6 (10-8) in one hour and 43 minutes, but the scoreline barely tells the story. The British left-hander spurned two set points — chances to take the set and force a decider — and saved three match points before Fils finally closed it out in the tiebreak, the first-to-seven shootout used to decide a tied set.
Norrie had reached the last 16 by upsetting world number seven Alex de Minaur in the previous round, saving a match point to win 5-7 7-6 (7-5) (BBC Sport). Against Fils, the escape act ran out.
Fils now meets Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals. Jodar upset eighth seed Jiri Lehecka 6-3 6-3 — a seed being the protected ranking placement that keeps top players from meeting each other early in a tournament. Elsewhere in the men's draw, Brandon Nakashima beat Arthur Rinderknech in three sets, and Luciano Darderi edged Nuno Borges 4-6 6-3 7-5.
For Sabalenka, the US Open begins on 31 August. She has three weeks to find the level that made her the best player in the world this season. The hard courts of Flushing Meadows — the same surface as Toronto — will give her every chance. But the questions are piling up, and she has not had an answer since the spring.
