Sabalenka and Norrie both fall in Canadian Open last-16 upsets
World number one Aryna Sabalenka and Britain's Cameron Norrie were both eliminated in the last 16 of the Canadian Open, ahead of Sabalenka's US Open title defence.
The Canadian Open in Toronto produced a shock result as women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka was beaten by Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 16th seed, in a near two-and-a-half-hour battle that finished 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 4-6. Sabalenka fought back after losing the opening set, but a double fault while serving to stay in the match handed Alexandrova the win in the decider.
The loss extends a difficult run for Sabalenka, who was also knocked out in the quarter-finals of the French Open and the last 16 at Wimbledon. She is due to defend her US Open title in the coming weeks.
Alexandrova said afterwards that she tried to treat every point as her last, since opportunities against Sabalenka are rare, adding that she felt her chance had slipped away after dropping the second set. She will next face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who beat American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4.
Third seed Jessica Pegula suffered her first career defeat to Diana Shnaider, with the 22-year-old Russian closing out both sets strongly to win 6-3, 6-3. Shnaider will meet seventh seed Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals after the six-time Grand Slam champion recovered from a shaky opening set to beat Marta Kostyuk 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Norrie also falls short
In the men's event in Montreal, British number two Cameron Norrie lost to 18th seed Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 7-6 (10-8). Norrie saved three match points in the second set to force a tie-break but was ultimately broken, with the match lasting one hour and 43 minutes.
Fils will face 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals after Jodar upset eighth seed Jiri Lehecka. Brandon Nakashima and Luciano Darderi also advanced, both coming through gruelling three-set matches.
