Sunday's action in Montreal delivered one big upset on the courts of IGA Stadium, hosting the WTA 1000 National Bank Open. Clara Tauson took excellent revenge on Iga Swiatek for their recent meeting at Wimbledon last month, upsetting the Pole with an unexpected straight-sets win by 7-6(6), 6-3. Madison Keys prevailed in a thrilling three-setter against Karolina Muchova, where the Australian Open champion denied two match points in decisive moments to win 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. This was not a good day for Wimbledon finalists, as Amanda Anisimova suffered a tough loss to Elina Svitolina, who sealed another quarterfinal run this year with a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Naomi Osaka spent the least time on court, delivering a hugely dominant win over Anastasija Sevastova. The Latvian was nowhere near making another upset in Montreal, as the former world No. 1 won 6-1, 6-0 in just 49 minutes of play.
The quarterfinals line-up is an interesting one, with the draw already quite open and none of the top 5 seeds remaining. It’s tough to point to any clear favorite among the quarterfinal pairings, and certainly not easy to pick the title favorite. Let’s take a look at the statistical breakdown of the upcoming matches.
Mboko continues dream run at home against Bouzas Maneiro
Victoria Mboko will surely get all the noise from the Canadian fans, as the 18-year-old wildcard moves into her first quarterfinal at a WTA 1000 event after defeating Coco Gauff with a shocking upset in the Round of 16. Her opponent arrived at this stage rather under the radar, also reaching the quarterfinal of such a big tournament for the first time. Mboko can move up into the top 50 in case of a victory, while Bouzas Maneiro is guaranteed to reach a career-high ranking inside the top 40. A win could even push her close to the Grand Slam seeding zone. The Canadian is expected to be the one who fires first, but Bouzas Maneiro is also an offensive player who should cause a lot of trouble for the youngster - unless she crumbles under the pressure of a big match.
Rybakina edges through, meets Kostyuk in physical battle
Elena Rybakina did not look at her best against Dayana Yastremska in the Round of 16 but managed to survive the three-setter and now meets Marta Kostyuk on Monday. Rybakina seems to be the favorite in her half of the draw, as long as she stays fit and healthy - which has not always been the case in recent months. Marta Kostyuk also isn’t fully fresh, having needed three-set efforts to get past her previous opponent. We shouldn't expect an extra-clean match from either side, but it’s worth watching to see in which direction this tie goes.
Osaka set for toughest Montreal test against solid Svitolina
Naomi Osaka is celebrating a strong start to her cooperation with new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. The trial with the former coach of Iga Swiatek - who led her to all of her biggest career achievements - started like a honeymoon. Osaka has already survived high-pressure situations (saving match points against Liudmila Samsonova) and cruised through matches where she looked sharp and composed (against Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasija Sevastova). Elina Svitolina will be a super tough test, as the Ukrainian is showing a very solid version of herself in Montreal - a continuation of a season filled with deep runs, slowly knocking on the door of a top 10 comeback.
Tauson celebrates revenge win over Swiatek, Keys survives scare
Clara Tauson showed great resilience against Iga Swiatek, defending 7 out of 8 break points and discouraging the six-time Grand Slam champion from getting back into contention after Tauson took a super tight first set. Tauson was clinical in key moments - one of the proofs of that is the fact that Swiatek’s only point in the first-set tiebreak came from Tauson’s double fault. The opening set was high quality from both sides, but Swiatek looked diminished in the second, making multiple unforced errors. Tauson got her revenge after a straightforward loss at Wimbledon, where she was quite sick during their Round of 16 meeting. Now, the Dane sets up an intriguing match-up against Madison Keys, denying the rematch between Keys and Swiatek from the Australian Open semifinal. The American enters the quarterfinals after two tough three-set battles. Their stats from hard courts this season show similar gamestyles, but Keys’ vulnerability to form fluctuation could be crucial - Tauson is a very dangerous player on return, so Keys must be on alert to maintain a solid performance on serve.
