Osaka, Gauff race into Canadian Open quarters as Rybakina survives scare

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkElena Rybakina will play Naomi Osaka in a blockbuster quarterfinal matchup at the Canadian Open [Matthew Stockman/Getty Images via AFP]By AFPPublished On 10 Aug 202610 Aug 2026World number two Elena Rybakina survived a huge scare to battle into the Canadian Open quarterfinals on Sunday in Toronto, while fourth-ranked Coco Gauff cruised through.Kazakhstan’s Rybakina recovered from 0-3 and two breaks down in the final set to beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 before American Gauff swept aside Russian teenage qualifier Alina Korneeva, 6-3, 6-1.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Malawi reach WAFCON semis and World Cup, while Nigeria’s title reign endslist 2 of 4NBA: Hall of Fame coach and champion player Don Nelson dies at 86list 3 of 4Brazilian player falls into tunnel celebrating goallist 4 of 4Barca eye three-peat as Mourinho back at Madrid in new La Liga seasonend of listRybakina will face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who eliminated home hero Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-4.Gauff reached the last eight in Canada for the first time since 2023 and next meets 14th-ranked Swiss Belinda Bencic, who won 6-4, 6-0 in 73 minutes over 20th-ranked Alexandra Eala, a Filipina who won her first WTA title last Monday in Washington.“My main focus today was ‘let me try and close it out’,” said Gauff, who has not dropped a set in Canada.“Probably not the way I should be thinking, but it worked today.“I’m proud of how the last three matches have gone and just knowing if I have to go the distance I’m ready, but obviously would prefer to cut it short if I can.”Coco Gauff plays a shot against Alina Korneeva during their fourth round match at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto, on August 9, 2026 [Dan Hamilton/Imagn Images via Reuters]Osaka broke in the seventh game of each set to advance in 82 minutes.“It was all pretty good for me,” the 13th-ranked Osaka said. “She has a great attitude. She’s consistent and she will fight. She’s kind of like a bulldog.”The Japanese star, who has never faced Rybakina, said sound groundstrokes were key.“When I feel comfortable or at least confident in myself knowing I can run things down, I loosen up a lot,” Osaka said.“I was catching my service toss a couple times. Hopefully in the next match I don’t do that as often.“I need to be confident in myself, execute what I can and at the end of the day just try my best and whatever happens happens.”Bencic connected on 64.4 percent of her first serves and won 72.4 percent of those points in a 73-minute victory, her 10th win in a row over left-handed opponents.“I hate to play against lefties so I’m surprised by this statistic,” Bencic said.“Very tricky. Maybe helped me [that] I played a lefty the round before against Taylor Townsend. I got used to the serve a little bit. I wish I was a lefty too.”