Naomi Osaka booked her place in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open after defeating home hope Leylah Fernandez.
Fernandez, who was the last Canadian left in the draw, lost to Osaka in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, on centre court in Toronto.
The Japanese star has yet to drop a set so far in her campaign, having also beaten Panna Udvardy and Elise Mertens fairly comfortably in rounds two and three respectively.
Predict now – who are the two women who make the US Open final?
Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek are all out of form…
Osaka, ranked 13th in the world currently, is in search of her first WTA title of the season, and her eighth overall.
Naomi Osaka reaches four straight quarterfinals
Osaka has now reached four consecutive tour-level quarterfinals for the first time in her career since the 2021 season, when she was still ranked inside the top ten.
After a fourth-round exit at Roland Garros, Osaka made the final of the Bad Homburg Open, in which she was forced to retire during her title bout with Karolina Muchova.
She then advanced to the last-eight stage of the Wimbledon Championships, the best finish of her career in SW19, and beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka en route.
There, Osaka was beaten by eventual finalist Muchova, but she bounced back by reaching the semifinals of the Washington Open.
Osaka fell to Alex Eala in Washington, with the Filipina star winning in straight sets before clinching a maiden WTA crown at the WTA 500 event.
Alexandra Eala will win __ WTA titles during her career
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Now, Osaka is in yet another quarterfinal at the Canadian Open, but has a tough test in front of her.
Naomi Osaka’s next opponent at the 2026 Canadian Open
In the quarterfinals of the 2026 Canadian Open, Osaka will take on world number two Elena Rybakina for the first time in her career.
Rybakina, who clinched her second major title at the Australian Open earlier this year, has not been her dominant self over the past few months on the WTA Tour.
Since winning the Stuttgart Open in April, the Kazakh star has made just one quarterfinal across WTA 1000 and Grand Slam level, with early exits at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
But Rybakina has a new incentive to go far at the Canadian Open as an opportunity for her to close in on Sabalenka in the rankings has presented itself.
If Rybakina wins the title in Toronto, she will go within four WTA points of Sabalenka, and could overtake the Belarusian in Cincinnati.
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