Ekaterina Alexandrova Stuns Aryna Sabalenka in Toronto After ‘Quite Difficult’ Season

Ekaterina Alexandrova caused a huge upset on Saturday (August 8). In the fourth round of the Canadian Open, she defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 29 minutes.

The win helped the Russian improve her head-to-head record over the Belarusian to 5-5. With this win, Alexandrova reached the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time in her career. She, in fact, had never made it past the third round before this season.

If I would be able to create some pressure on the return, especially on the first (serve), it will create some kind of tension on the court. Sometimes it was really working, but of course it cost me a lot of errors the same way. But I think that helped me a lot because on my serve I was just trying to get the ball in and start the point. But on her serve, I was trying to be super aggressive.

Ekaterina Alexandrova said at the press conference

Prior to her win over the four-time Grand Slam singles champion, the 31-year-old eliminated Talia Gibson and Camila Osorio. Before this tournament, she had made just two quarterfinals, at the Bad Homburg Open (lost to eventual runner-up Naomi Osaka) and at the Abu Dhabi Open, where she also reached the final only to lose to Sara Bejlek.

It means a lot because this year was quite difficult for me. Especially after last season, which was really good. Maybe the expectations from last year didn’t help me. A win like this helps so much to gain some kind of confidence that you’re doing the right thing, and that maybe you are on the right path — that everything you’re doing is working, so you just need to continue doing the same thing.

Ekaterina Alexandrova added

The defeat marked Sabalenka’s another exit from high-profile tournaments before reaching the final. Sabalenka last won a title at the Miami Open, but since then, she has not yet made a final, including on the clay swing where last year, she made the title clashes of the Stuttgart Open, Madrid Open, and the French Open.

When the hardcourt season started, Sabalenka was expected to go deep. But her fourth-round defeat has raised doubts about her form ahead of the US Open, where she is the reigning champion (beat home favorite Amanda Anisimova last year).

Ekaterina Alexandrova will face Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open

Ekaterina Alexandrova has to overcome another tough opponent to reach her career’s fourth WTA 1000 semifinal. In the last eight, she will be up against Elina Svitolina, who knocked out Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open for the fifth time.

She is a hell of a player, so I was expecting her to come back a little bit more. Sometimes she’s playing really sharp, so it was not an easy one, but I’m really happy with the way I could handle the (game) at 5-4 and serve it out to close the match.

Ekaterina Alexandrova said at the press conference

Svitolina is a former champion in the tournament, winning the title in 2017 by defeating Caroline Wozniacki. She is bidding to win her second WTA 1000 title of the season following her win at the Italian Open (beat Coco Gauff).

Svitolina has played three finals so far this year. After winning the ASB Classic (beat Wang Xinyu), she lost the Dubai Tennis Championships to Jessica Pegula before clinching the title in Rome. She is a five-time champion at the WTA 1000 level.

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