Canadian Open Toronto WTA Day Five Round-Up | Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Iga Swiatek power through amid intermittent rain delays

The line-up has started to dwindle at the 2026 Canadian Open albeit there weren't many shocks even with the rain peeking its head above the parapet again on Thursday as Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Iga Swiatek all fought their way through.

To Sabalenka first who was far from convincing, but she didn't need to be at times and at times she did as she took down Shuai Zhang. She won through 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 16 minutes.

While she never looked like being upset, Zhang kept her under pressure throughout and Sabalenka even faced serious danger in the final game as she had to wipe away break point before taking the last three points to close out the win in straight sets. She improves to 5-1 against her in these events and has won their last five meetings.

She is 25-1 on hard courts this season and her lone less came at the Australian Open final. She is the fastest to reach 25 since Serena Williams in 2016 and knew the test she had to overcome. "That was definitely tricky. She played great," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. "It was tough to face when you want to finish the match and go rest. And you know there was the break point. Of course, that's definitely not easy, and I'm happy that I managed to stay focused and managed to close this match in straight sets."

The same can be said for another top name in Amanda Anisimova who had to come from 4-2 down in the decider as well as constant rain delays to see off Nikola Bartunkova. While Sabalenka went back on court multiple times before going off again, Anisimova just as it looked like she was getting in her rhythm again was forced off. At the time though it was semi a blessing in disguise as she lost the first 6-3 but came back to win 6-0, 6-4 in the final two sets.

She breezed past her in the second in an emphatic bagel before the final set she came from 4-2 down to win through. A real poised and combative win from Anisimova who had to face real adversity, but she came through a confidence booster by the manner of which she did it.

Albeit others were very much a lot easier. Marta Kostyuk managed to avert the rain delays that soon came. She had one or two, but wasn't off the court prolonged as she faced Madison Keys and when she came back on, it was a race to win. She won 6-3, 6-1 and sent a real statement out that she is a woman to beat against a former Grand Slam champion on the surface.

While despite losing in the final of DC last week, Jessica Pegula also sped through. She took down Kamilla Rakhimova coming through a tough opening set where she was feeling out her game before hitting the turbo button and winning the second 6-0. While it was a double Russian triumph as Ekaterina Alexandrova combatted Talia Gibson 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in three sets and Anna Kalinskaya was vanquished by a certain Diana Shnaider in a 6-3, 6-3 win for the Roland Garros semi-finalist.

Kostyuk as priorly mentioned is through and will face Iga Swiatek. The Pole eased past Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-1 in 66 minutes and she gave very little away. She dominated with 18 winners to Golubic's five and conceded just 14 points on serve including that opening break. Swiatek managed to keep a lid on her variety and shotmaking abilities to seal the win.

"For sure it was a good day, and I'm really happy with the way I played," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "Even though the first game wasn't super smooth, I knew I can start from the beginning, and then it went my way and I could find my rhythm."

"I think I played back her slice pretty well, so the change of rhythm didn't bother me that much. I tried to pick the right balls to attack because I was controlling the pace, it was just about the decision making."

Finally Elina Svitolina completed the session swatting aside Anastasia Potapova in a 6-1, 6-1 win over the Austrian. She won in just over an hour and will be one to watch going forward as usual this week. But mostly for the big names, it was easy wins.