Ekaterina Alexandrova upsets No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Toronto

Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova drew even in her WTA career matches against Aryna Sabalenka, knocking off the World No. 1 on Saturday in the fourth round of the National Bank Open in Toronto.

Alexandrova, the No. 16 seed, defeated top-seeded Sabalenka of Belarus, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 in two hours, 29 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.

"I didn't have any expectations before the match," said Alexandrova, now 5-5 in head-to-head matches with Sabalenka at the WTA's top level. "I knew it was going to be super difficult when I walked on the court.

"I was trying to risk as much as possible because it felt like it was the only way to create some chances. It caused many more mistakes but at the same time I created many more opportunities."

Alexandrova converted 6 of 15 break-point opportunities to 6 of 11 for Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam winner.

Saturday marked the third time Alexandrova has defeated the top-ranked player, having beaten Iga Swiatek in Miami in 2024 and Sabalenka in Doha last year -- the last time she reached a quarterfinal.

"I just tried to play every single point as if it was the last one because with her, you don't a lot of chances during the match," Alexandrova said in her on-court interview. "I had a lot today, but I couldn't realize some of them. But honestly, I was trying not to think about the score or anything. Just hit the ball, and that's it."

Alexandrova will face ninth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who defeated eighth-seeded Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 in the late match on Saturday.

Seventh-seeded Swiatek overcame a horrid first set and rallied to defeat 10th-seeded Marta Kostyuk, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.

On Monday, Swiatek will face 15th-seeded Diana Shnaider, who upset third-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-2.

Swiatek, who lost to Kostyuk at Roland Garros in the spring, produced as poor of a serving set as possible to open the match. She won only 1-of-17 of her serves, was broken in all four service games and retired to the locker room after the 39-minute debacle.

When she returned, the match completely flipped. The Polish star's serving wasn't great, but she managed to fend off all six of Kostyuk's break chances and converted on both of her opportunities to send the match to a decider.

Swiatek broke the Ukrainian at love to start the third set and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. She failed on her first five match point opportunities, saved to breaks, but reached her first National Bank quarterfinal since 2023.

"In the second I came out ... playing a bit faster and more heavy, and pushing Marta a little bit more," said Swiatek. "I knew I can, you know, keep being solid while doing that. So then, like, game by game I felt like it was a good plan and a good choice, and I went for it."

The win snapped a seven-game winning streak for Kostyuk in three-set matches.

Asked to compare today's match to her loss to Kostyuk in Paris, Swiatek said, "I'm in a different place for sure. I feel like I could play my game. I couldn't really do that at the French. So yeah, I knew what to do. I knew how to play. I just continued being focused and in the zone. Til the end I was pretty confident with my game plan and with my strengths. I'm happy how I did that."

Shnaider defeated Pegula for the first time in five matches and avenged a loss in Washington, D.C., last week.

Trailing 30-15, the Russian broke Pegula in the eighth game of the first set and held serve to get out in front.

Shnaider fell behind again, 3-2, in the second set, but won 19 of the final 25 points of the match to earn the right to face Swiatek.

She has reached the quarterfinal of a Masters 1000 event for the third time in her career.

--Field Level Media