News Center — The Toronto tennis tournament witnessed the qualification of a number of top-seeded players to the quarterfinals, as the competition intensifies with the tournament entering its decisive stages.

Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, world No. 2, secured her spot in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Toronto WTA 1000 tournament after a hard-fought victory over Russia's Liudmila Samsonova, ranked 55th in the world, in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the round of 16 match held yesterday evening, Sunday, August 9.

Rybakina endured a shaky start, losing her serve early to Samsonova before quickly breaking back. The first set saw several swings and exchanges of breaks, but the Kazakh player eventually clinched it 6-4.

In the second set, Samsonova raised her level and capitalized on Rybakina's dip in form to win it 6-4. She continued her pressure at the start of the decisive set, taking a 3-0 lead after breaking Rybakina's serve twice.

However, Rybakina regained her composure at the right moment, winning four consecutive games to turn the third set around, before maintaining her lead to close it 6-4 and seal her place in the quarterfinals.

Her qualification comes amid her competition for the world No. 1 ranking, currently held by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who was eliminated from the Toronto tournament by Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Rybakina will face Japan's Naomi Osaka, ranked 11th in the world, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, August 11, after Osaka defeated Canada's Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 16.

Osaka delivered a strong performance against Fernandez, utilizing her powerful groundstrokes, and won both sets by the same margin to continue her tournament run and reach the quarterfinals.

American Coco Gauff, world No. 4, also continued her successful tournament campaign, defeating Russia's Alina Korneeva, ranked 89th, in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

Gauff dominated the match from the start, giving her opponent no chance to recover, to comfortably seal the victory and maintain her record of not dropping a set in the tournament en route to the quarterfinals.

This marks Gauff's seventh quarterfinal of the season, her fourth in WTA 1000 events, and her first quarterfinal in Toronto since 2023.

She will face Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, ranked 14th in the world, who reached the last eight after defeating Philippines' Alexandra Eala, ranked 20th, 6-4, 6-0.

With that, the two anticipated quarterfinal matchups for Rybakina and Gauff are set, with Rybakina facing Osaka, and Gauff taking on Bencic for a place in the semifinals of the Canadian tournament.