ANOTHER WIN OVER SABALENKA
Ekaterina Alexandrova eliminated world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 7–6(3), 4–6, 6–4 in the fourth round of the National Bank Open in Toronto. The match lasted two hours and 29 minutes and sent the Russian into the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 event.
Alexandrova has now beaten Sabalenka in five of their 10 tour meetings. The Toronto result was also her third victory against a reigning world No. 1, following wins over Iga Swiatek in Miami in 2024 and Sabalenka in Doha in 2025.
RELENTLESS RETURN PRESSURE
Sabalenka made the faster start and moved 2–0 ahead, but Alexandrova immediately recovered the break. The opening set went to a tie-break, where the No. 16 seed took control and won 7–3.
The top-ranked player responded by taking the second set 6–4. Alexandrova then dropped serve in the first game of the decider but refused to let the match move beyond reach. She maintained sustained pressure on return and, according to the WTA Tour, created 15 break-point opportunities across the contest.
Alexandrova could not close the match when she tried to move 5–2 ahead, and Sabalenka saved the first two match points with aces. Alexandrova nevertheless regrouped in the final game, converted her third match point with the decisive break and completed the biggest result of the week in Toronto.
SVITOLINA NEXT
Alexandrova will face Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals. The Ukrainian defeated Amanda Anisimova 6–2, 6–4 in another fourth-round match.
Svitolina leads their head-to-head series 3–1, although their most recent meeting came in Berlin in 2021 and was won by Alexandrova. This is the Russian’s sixth career WTA 1000 quarter-final and her first since Doha in 2025.
REPORTING BASIS
ON MEDIA.AL wrote this article from scratch using the WTA Tour’s official report published on 9 August 2026. The result, match duration, statistics and historical notes are attributed to the WTA.
