Osaka eliminates Fernandez and meets Rybakina in the Toronto quarters

The Japanese Naomi Osaka eliminated the Canadian Leylah Fernandez this Sunday and qualified for the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, a round to which Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Belinda Bencic also advanced.

Osaka, eleventh seed, won by a double 6-4 over Fernandez, thirtieth favorite and last Canadian representative remaining in the individual draw, in one hour and 22 minutes.

The Japanese got a break in each set and was especially solid with her serve. In the first set, Fernandez responded immediately to the first loss of serve, but was unable to do so again when the four-time Grand Slam champion broke serve again in the final stretch.

“I think my serve helped me a lot today. I also tried to be consistent when I could and not force too much,” explained Osaka, who acknowledged that she approached the match with nerves due to the reaction that the Canadian public could have.

Osaka noted that she even resorted to yawning during the match to try to relax and admitted that, despite the straight-set victory, she didn’t feel particularly bright.

Fernandez regretted the wasted opportunities: “Naomi is a champion, she is a tremendous player, she did what she had to do to get the victory.” The Canadian added that small decisions and errors in important moments ended up tilting the match.

In the quarterfinals, Osaka will face Rybakina, second seed, for the first time in competition, who starred in the great comeback of the day against the Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

Rybakina needed two hours and 49 minutes to win 6-4, 4-6 and 6-4 in a match in which she was 0-3 and two breaks behind in the third set. From that moment on, the Kazakh won six of the next seven games and closed the match by breaking Samsonova’s serve to love.

“In the third set I simply tried to concentrate on each point. (…) I am happy that I managed to win in the end,” said Rybakina, who assured that she tries not to think about the possibility of getting closer to the world number one and prefers to concentrate on improving her game.

Coco Gauff, the fourth seed, also advanced without difficulty, defeating Russian Alina Korneeva, from the qualifying phase, 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 14 minutes. Gauff broke her opponent’s serve seven times and had break points in all of Korneeva’s serves.

“I think I was pretty solid today, as good as you can be,” Gauff said, although she added that the game was not as easy as the score indicated. The American thus reached her twenty-fifth quarterfinals in a WTA 1000 tournament.

Her next opponent will be Bencic, twelfth seed and champion in Toronto in 2015, who ended the outstanding participation of the Filipino Alexandra Eala with a resounding victory 6-4 and 6-0 in one hour and 13 minutes.

The Swiss broke Eala’s serve six times, three in each set, and did not concede a game in a second set that she resolved in just 28 minutes