TORONTO: Reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff was upset by Russia’s Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-1 on Friday in a third-round match at the Toronto Masters.

Shnaider captured her first match against a top-10 rival in winning the meeting of 20-year-olds with world number two Gauff, the US top seed who was ousted in a bid for her eighth career WTA title.

“I tried to play it cool, but inside I was like, ‘Yes, I made it,” said Shnaider.

Asked how she pulled off the stunner, Shnaider replied, “Honestly I still don’t know. It was a little bit tough conditions. It was very windy but I’m very glad I managed to overcome it.”

The 24th-ranked Russian seeks her fourth WTA title of the year after Thailand, Bad Homburg and Budapest.

Shnaider, in her first WTA Masters level round of 16 match, needed only 70 minutes to dispatch Gauff and book a quarter-final against Russian sixth seed Liudmila Samsonova, who eliminated Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4.

Shnaider broke Gauff in the 10th game to capture the opening set and the American double-faulted away a break to hand Shnaider a 3-1 lead in the second set and never recovered.

“Sometimes I question like whether I should have played or not,” Gauff said. “But at the end of the day I wanted to test myself and see if I would be able to, how I would do being mentally tired a little bit and physically fatigued.

“I didn’t have high expectations, but I wish I could have competed better today, even if it resulted in a loss. I don’t think I competed well.”

Gauff will play next week at Cincinnati, where she is the defending champion, in the final major tune-up for the US Open.

US third seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula defeated compatriot Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-4 to reach a quarter-final against another American, Peyton Stearns, who advanced 6-4, 4-2 when 12th seed Victoria Azarenka retired.

Another all-US quarter-final will send eighth seed Emma Navarro against Taylor Townsend.

Navarro defeated Ukraine’s 11th seed Marta Kostyuk 7-5, 7-5 while Townsend upset Latvian fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-1.

Two-time reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka hit 24 winners to eliminate Britain’s Katie Boulter 6-3, 6-3.

The second seed from Belarus advanced to a quarter-final against American Amanda Anisimova.

PLAY IN MONTREAL WASHED OUT

Meanwhile, the Montreal Masters was hit by a total washout as the after-effects of a tropical storm were felt in Canada.

Officials were hoping against the odds that play might just get underway at an event which only ends on Monday due to Olympic scheduling.

But matters were not helped by steady rains from tropical storm Debby that arrived from the US.

Organisers pulled the plug in early afternoon, leaving three leftover second-round matches as well as the entire third round still to play.

Forecasts suggested that the worst of the weather would be done by Saturday morning.

Off court, top-seed Jannik Sinner was relieved of one obligation when his British doubles partner, Jack Draper, withdrew from doubles on Friday morning, freeing the Italian to concentrate on defending his Canada singles title.

The world number one is competing for the first time since losing a Wimbledon quarter-final a month ago while feeling poorly.

Sinner later had to withdraw from the Paris Olympics with tonsillitis and is still regaining top form.

“After Miami [which he won in April], it’s the first time back on hardcourt and the first match is always very difficult and tough,” Sinner said. “I was fortunate to play a couple of matches in doubles to get this match feeling back. I don’t watch about [if] I lost or won.

“I’m thinking about myself, about my game, what I have to improve, what I have to do to get better. That’s the most important thing at the moment for me.”

The 22-year-old and his team have a simple plan for the rest of the event and into Cincinnati next week.

“I want to play as many matches as possible here in the US swing now — but to do that I have to improve my serve a little bit,” Sinner stated.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024