Elena Rybakina delivered one of her grittiest performances of the season on Thursday, clawing back from a set and a break down to eliminate Naomi Osaka 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in a Canadian Open quarter-final that lasted two hours and 33 minutes in Montreal.
Osaka looked in control early, breaking Rybakina in the very first game of the match and carrying that momentum through to claim the opening set. She then extended her lead by breaking again to go 4-2 up in the second, and a comfortable victory seemed well within reach for the four-time Grand Slam champion.
But Rybakina refused to fold. The 2022 Wimbledon and 2026 Australian Open champion reeled off three consecutive games and then edged a tense tie-break to level the contest. The third set proved equally dramatic: Osaka held four break points while leading 3-2 but could not convert any of them. Rybakina promptly broke in the following game and never looked back, sealing the win with a 15th ace to close out the match emphatically.
The victory was far from flawless. Rybakina admitted her 72 unforced errors represented her worst tally in a single match this season, yet her fighting spirit carried her through. "I was just trying to fight," she said, adding that she was "super happy" to escape with the win.
Osaka subsequently announced she is withdrawing from the Cincinnati Open citing fatigue, casting a shadow over her preparations for the US Open.
Rybakina will now face Coco Gauff in the semi-finals after Gauff advanced when Belinda Bencic retired hurt with a hip injury. TennisDraw users had Osaka penciled in as a dark-horse finalist, making Rybakina's comeback all the more surprising.
