World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has suffered another blip this season after falling in three sets to Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Canadian Open.
The top seed suffered a shock 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 loss to the Russian, who has been a difficult opponent for Sabalenka throughout their careers, with their head-to-head at 5-5. In their latest clash, Sabalenka had a break advantage early in the deciding set before losing three of her next five service games. It is the sixth time this season she has lost a complete three-set match out of 10 played.
“I knew it’s going to be a difficult match. I didn’t have any expectations beside that,” Alexandrova said.
“I just went on the court, and I was trying to play as aggressive as I could, even if that cost me a lot of unforced mistakes.”
“I was trying to play more aggressive on the return because, I don’t know, for me it felt like her serve, it’s such a big weapon of hers. If I would be able to create some pressure on the return, especially on the first one, it will create some kind of tension on the court, and it will help me, you know, to get extra few seconds, maybe less, you know, just to play the ball faster, so that she doesn’t have that much time after the serve.” She added.
Since winning the Miami Open in March, Sabalenka is yet to reach another final on the Tour. She was playing in Canada for the first time since Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round before losing to Naomi Osaka. The Belarusian, who has failed to reach the quarter-final stage in three of her last five tournaments, currently has a win-loss record of 38-7 this season.
Former top 10 player Alexandrova has also experienced a roller-coaster journey in recent months. Since January, she has failed to win back-to-back matches at 15 tournaments but was runner-up at the Abu Dhabi Open and a quarter-finalist at the Bad Homburg Open.
“I don’t know if it is a surprise,” she said of beating Sabalenka in Toronto.
“I had some good matches before the tournament, but I also had some not so good matches. I think I was somewhere in the middle.
“I’m starting to get some kind of form or starting to feel some kind of feeling on the court that I’m doing the right thing.
“I didn’t have any expectations before the start of the tournament. I was trying to just play every match that I could because you never know this could be the one.
“I’m still kind of in the middle of finding the really good form.”
There was better news for Iga Swiatek, who bounced back from a set down to beat Marta Kostyuk 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. It is the first time since May that the Pole has reached the last eight of a WTA event. It is the fifth year in a row that Swiatek has made it to the quarter-finals of four or more WTA 1000 tournaments, which is a streak that has only been matched by Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep since the series was introduced in 2009.
“It was an intense match,” said Swiatek.
“Even though the scoreline was maybe not so close, we fought for every ball. There weren’t many free points.
“If we both made some mistakes, it was because the other one was pushing.
“I was just happy that I was the one that was more solid and improved my game until the end.”
Swiatek will next play Diana Shnaider, who stunned third seed Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-3. Meanwhile, Alexandrova faces Elina Svitolina, who defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4.
