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An early match time didn’t faze Elena Rybakina on Tuesday at the National Bank Open. Neither did a strong start by her opponent.
Rybakina came back for a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Naomi Osaka to reach the semifinals at the WTA Tour event. The second seed from Kazakhstan broke Osaka’s serve at 3-3 in the deciding set and held on for the win at Sobeys Stadium.
“It was a very difficult match,” Rybakina said. “I honestly don’t know how I managed to turn it around.”
The match started earlier than planned after Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic pulled out due to a hip injury. Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff advanced to the semifinals via walkover.
Organizers confirmed the withdrawal shortly before the evening match was set to begin on centre court.
The Rybakina-Osaka match was moved up into the time-slot and the players delivered with a back-and-forth battle that lasted two hours 33 minutes.
Rybakina played her previous matches during the day sessions and had hoped for a longer pre-match practice session to adjust to the late-day light.
“I couldn’t find the feeling, it took me some time,” Rybakina said.
The hard-serving six-footer will meet Gauff in the semifinals on Wednesday.
“She’s a great fighter,” Rybakina said. “I know it’s going to be a very difficult match.”
The other matchup pits ninth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine against seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland. Both players won their quarterfinal matches on Monday.
The final was scheduled for Thursday at the $7.43-million US tournament.
The 12th-seeded Bencic, who won here in 2015, played with significant taping around her left thigh in a fourth-round win over Alexandra Eala of the Philippines on Sunday.
“I am really sorry to not be able to compete tonight,” Bencic said in a statement. “This is an amazing tournament and I was really looking forward to playing in front of the great fans here in Toronto.
“I tried everything possible to be ready for tonight.”
The 11th-seeded Osaka broke serve in the match’s opening game and was two points away from victory in the second-set tiebreaker before Rybakina pulled even.
Up 3-2 in the decider, the four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan had four break-point opportunities but Rybakina held serve to tie it.
Osaka was broken after that and Rybakina would close out the match with her 15th ace to secure her third WTA 1000 semifinal appearance of the season.
“I was just trying to stay positive and tried to stay close to the score,” Rybakina said. “I’m very happy that I managed to turn it around.”
Osaka reached the NBO final last year in Montreal before falling to Canada’s Victoria Mboko, who was unable to defend her title due to a knee injury.
In doubles semifinal play, Italy’s Sara Errani and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez beat Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko 6-1, 4-6, 10-8.
In quarterfinal action, Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Britain’s Olivia Nicholls posted a 7-5, 6-4 win over Belgium’s Elise Mertens and Russia’s Diana Shnaider.
Shelton’s quest to repeat continues in Montreal
Defending National Bank Open men’s singles champion Ben Shelton is through to the semifinals after the fifth-seeded American easily defeated Czechia’s Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-1 at Montreal’s IGA Stadium.
“It was a great night for me,” said Shelton. “I think days like this when everything is clicking is a little bit easier in terms of mentality out on the court.
“I think that it is a lot tougher on the days where you have things that you are struggling with or problems on your side of the net that are difficult to solve.”
Shelton, who hasn’t lost a set during the 2026 tournament, reached his 16th career ATP Tour-level semifinal and first on hard courts since his ATP 500 title in Dallas in February.
He will face fellow American Learner Tien in Wednesday night’s second semifinal after the No. 12 seed defeated Spain’s Daniel Merida 6-3, 6-2 in the late match.
Earlier Tuesday, Brandon Nakashima also secured his place in the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Luciano Darderi, giving the United States three men in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar defeated France’s Arthur Fils 7-6 (5), 6-3 to close out Tuesday’s day session.
Jodar will face Nakashima Wednesday night in what will be the first Masters 1000 semifinal for either player.
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