Elena Rybakina refused to let another difficult position in Toronto end her run. The second seed came from a set and a break down against Naomi Osaka on Tuesday night, saving her best tennis for the moments when defeat was closest to complete a 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 victory in two hours and 36 minutes.
It was a match of momentum swings, powerful serving and prolonged stretches of uncertainty for Rybakina, who again found herself forced to fight her way out of trouble. Just days after coming back from a double-break deficit in the third set against Liudmila Samsonova, the Kazakhstani produced another comeback to book her place in the semifinals of the National Bank Open.
Osaka, playing Rybakina for the first time, had looked in control for much of the opening half of the contest. She immediately broke in the first game and protected that advantage despite having to fend off three break points in the following game. Rybakina never found a consistent rhythm, committing 24 unforced errors in the opening set, while Osaka made the most of her first serve to close out the opener 6-4.
The pressure increased in the second set. Osaka broke again to move ahead 2-1, and after Rybakina immediately restored parity, another break put the Japanese star in front 4-2. At that stage, Rybakina was running out of time.
However, she gradually turned the match around. Rybakina began to find her rhythm, breaking back for 4-4 and then moving ahead 5-4. The set eventually reached a tiebreak, where neither player was willing to give ground.
Osaka twice erased Rybakina’s mini-break advantages to level the tiebreak at 5-5, putting herself two points away from victory. Rybakina then won the next two points, finishing the tiebreak with a crushing forehand at the net to take the set 7-5.
At 3-2 in the third set, Osaka created four break points and appeared to have her best chance to take control again. Rybakina refused to give her one. She survived the extended game, eventually finishing the hold with a crosscourt forehand winner.
That escape proved decisive.
Osaka immediately wavered in the following game, missing three consecutive forehands as Rybakina finally secured the break she needed for a 4-3 lead. From there, the two-time Grand Slam champion did not surrender her advantage. Osaka held for 4-5, but Rybakina produced perhaps her cleanest serving sequence of the night to finish the match.
The statistics underline just how demanding the match was. Rybakina finished with 15 aces but also made 72 unforced errors, her highest total in a match this season. For Osaka, the defeat will be particularly frustrating. She had controlled long passages of the match and was just two points from taking the second-set tiebreak before Rybakina turned the contest around. In the deciding set, four missed break-point opportunities at 3-2 proved costly.
Rybakina has strengthened her position in the race for the world No. 1 ranking. A tournament title in Toronto would put her within striking distance of Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the rankings.
First, however, comes another difficult challenge.
Rybakina will face Coco Gauff in the semifinals, in a rematch of their only previous meeting on the WTA Tour. That encounter also took place in Toronto, four years ago, when Gauff prevailed 6-4 6-7(8) 7-6(3) in another marathon contest.
