TORONTO — Elena Rybakina just keeps fighting at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
The No. 2 seed won her third three-set match of the tournament, rallying to beat No. 11 seed Naomi Osaka 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Osaka hadn’t lost a set at the WTA Tour 1000 event before Rybakina fought back from a break down to take the second and then powered her way to an impressive two-hour, 33-minute match victory.
“It was again very difficult match,” the two-time Grand Slam champ said. “I honestly don't know how I managed to turn it around in the second set being 4-2 down. I was just trying to stay positive, try to stay close … So, yeah, very happy that I managed to turn it around.”
Rybakina, from Kazakhstan, will next face No. 4 seed Coco Gauff on Wednesday. The American, also a two-time Grand Slam winner, got a walkover win earlier in the night against Belinda Bencic after the Swiss player withdrew with a hip injury.
Rybakina and Gauff have met just once before, with the latter prevailing in a third-set tiebreak in the round of 32 in Toronto in 2022.
“She's a great fighter. I know it's going to be a very difficult match,” Rybakina said.
After being the second-best player on the court for the first set and much of the second on Tuesday, Rybakina elevated her game in front of a big crowd that included Kawhi Leonard in the front row.
Her best moments came in the third set. Trailing 3-2 and with serve, Rybakina came back from a 40-love deficit and then fought off a fourth break point in the game before nailing down a huge hold.
Rybakina then notched the decisive break. On the best point of the match, she raced way back to retrieve an Osaka lob on her backhand, made a great forehand get and then saw her opponent send a shot off the net and out.
Two points later, Rybakina had her break on an Osaka unforced error, and the four-time Grand Slam winner kicked her racket in frustration.
“We played many close games when she was serving,” Rybakina said. “I was just trying to tell myself, start the point, just try to return, and if she hits a good serve, I mean, good job for her.”
Rybakina finished things off with three aces in a dominant service game. The final game showcased why Rybakina continues to lead the WTA Tour in aces this year. She recorded 15 more against Osaka.
While Rybakina made a whopping 72 unforced errors, she also connected for 42 winners.
Rybakina won the Australian Open early in the year, but bowed out in the second round at the French Open and third round at Wimbledon.
She was a semifinalist at the NBO last year in Montreal, not converting on a match point in a loss to eventual champ Victoria Mboko of Canada. Mboko, out of this year’s tournament with a knee injury, went on to beat Osaka in the final.
Gauff will have had more rest ahead of the semifinal against Rybakina. While Rybakina was playing a tough match on Centre Court, Gauff went to hit some shots on a back court and exchanged a hug and took a picture with Leonard in the players’ lounge.
“For me, it's important to try to recover,” Rybakina said. “And if her serve gets going it's also not easy to return. So I feel like the most important thing again is to focus on my serve, try to be focused, get opportunities whenever I have them, and (have) a lot of energy from the very beginning.”
The other semifinal pits No. 7 Iga Swiatek of Poland against No. 9 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, meaning the final four features four top-10 seeds.
Swiatek is a six-time Grand Slam champ, while Svitolina has four semifinal showings for her best finishes at majors.
