Ekaterina Alexandrova Shocks Aryna Sabalenka at Canadian Open

Ekaterina Alexandrova delivered a significant upset at the Canadian Open by defeating the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, in a hard-fought match that lasted nearly two and a half hours. The contest, held in Toronto, concluded with scores of 7-6(3), 4-6, and 6-4 in favour of the Russian player.

Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and the reigning US Open champion, faced a challenging start. Although she broke Alexandrova early in the first set, the Russian player managed to rally and won the set via a tiebreak.

In response, Sabalenka displayed her resilience by claiming the second set. She took a break at 4-3 and went on to serve out the set, effectively levelling the match.

The final set saw Alexandrova maintain her aggressive approach while Sabalenka's errors began to accumulate. When serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Sabalenka saved two match points, but a double fault on the third allowed Alexandrova to seal her victory.

“I just tried to play every single point as if it was the last one because with her, you don’t get a lot of chances during the match,” Alexandrova stated during her on-court interview. She emphasised the importance of focusing solely on her gameplay, rather than the score. “I’m super happy that I could win because after the second set, I thought (the chance) was already past me,” she added.

With this victory, Alexandrova advances to the quarterfinals, where she will compete against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who recently triumphed over American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova with a score of 6-2, 6-4. This match is pivotal for both players as they seek to establish momentum ahead of the upcoming US Open.