Canadian Open Montreal ATP Day Seven Round-Up | Aryna Sabalenka falls to Alexandrova as Iga Swiatek survives Kostyuk test

The Canadian Open in Toronto delivered a dramatic day of WTA action as the quarter-final lineup began to take shape. Iga Swiatek recovered from a difficult opening set against Marta Kostyuk, while Diana Shnaider produced a statement victory over third seed Jessica Pegula to continue her run at the Canadian Open.

The biggest upset came as Aryna Sabalenka was eliminated by Ekaterina Alexandrova after a lengthy three-set battle, ending the world No. 1 seed's Toronto campaign. Elina Svitolina, meanwhile, advanced in emphatic fashion against Amanda Anisimova, setting up another notable presence in the Canadian Open quarter-finals.

Swiatek endured a difficult opening set against Kostyuk, winning just one point behind her serve as the Ukrainian repeatedly found ways to expose her opponent in the return games. Kostyuk broke four times during the set, compared with three breaks for Swiatek, and eventually held serve from 0-40 late in the set to complete a deserved 6-3 victory and take control of the match.

The momentum changed completely from the second set onwards, however, as Swiatek found her rhythm and began to dictate more consistently from the baseline. The Pole won more than 64% of her service points in each of the final two sets, while breaking Kostyuk four more times without conceding another break opportunity.

After dropping only one game in the second set, Swiatek continued to control the contest in the decider, winning 6-2 to complete the comeback and advance to the quarter-finals.

Shnaider produced a convincing performance to defeat third seed Pegula, winning four of the match's five break points while conceding only one to the American. The opening set was closely contested, with both players creating just one break opportunity, but Shnaider took hers after a long baseline exchange while Pegula could not convert her chance. That proved decisive as the Russian secured the opening set 6-3.

Shnaider then immediately took control of the second set with an early break, although Pegula responded to level at 2-2. The American briefly moved ahead 3-2, but her level dropped as Shnaider continued to move the ball effectively and force Pegula into errors. The Russian won the final four games in a row, including two more breaks, to close out a straight-sets victory and secure one of the biggest wins of her Toronto run.

Alexandrova ended Sabalenka’s Toronto run after a two-and-a-half-hour battle that saw the No. 1 seed repeatedly fight her way back into the opening set. Sabalenka recovered from 2-4 to level the score, and when Alexandrova served for the set at 6-5, the Belarusian again responded to force a tiebreak. Alexandrova held her nerve in the decider, however, taking the tiebreak to move ahead after a tightly contested opening set.

Sabalenka responded strongly in the second set and eventually established a break advantage to force the deciding set. Alexandrova, though, remained composed when the match entered its most important stage and found another level in the third, preventing Sabalenka from completing another comeback. The Russian ultimately closed out the victory to reach the quarter-finals after one of the most demanding matches of the day.

Svitolina produced a dominant start against No. 10 seed Anisimova, immediately taking control from the baseline. The Ukrainian opened at a high level, winning four consecutive games after breaking twice to establish a 4-0 lead. Anisimova eventually got on the board with her first hold, but she remained erratic in the following games and Svitolina added another break before serving out the opening set 6-2.

The second set initially followed a similar pattern as Svitolina continued to dictate from the baseline and quickly moved two breaks ahead. Anisimova managed to recover one of them and, from 5-1 down, won three consecutive games while saving as many as four match points to threaten a comeback. Svitolina, however, held her nerve when serving for the match for a second time, avoiding another setback and closing out a 6-1, 6-4 victory to advance in Toronto.