Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime is moving on to the quarterfinals at the National Bank Open after a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Britain’s Cameron Norrie at IGA Stadium.
The sixth seed from Montreal broke Norrie’s serve late in the second set before serving out for the victory.
Norrie, the ninth seed, defeated the Canadian in the semifinals last week in Los Cabos, Mexico. It was his first triumph over Auger-Aliassime in five tries on the ATP Tour.
Earlier in the day, fourth-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway posted a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.
Ruud, who will play Auger-Aliassime in the next round, is the highest seed left in the singles draw. Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece lost their opening matches.
The Ruud-Bautista Agut match was completed over four hours after its initial start time. Mid-afternoon thunderstorms caused a delay of just over an hour.
Play continues at the $6.57-million US Masters 1000 tournament through Sunday.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was stunned by Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 on Thursday at the National Bank Open.
The unseeded Haddad Maia had already upset 13th-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., the previous day.
She will face the winner of the Round of 16 match between Belinda Bencic and Garbine Muguruza in a quarterfinal on Friday.
Serving was an issue for Swiatek with nine double faults to Haddad Maia’s one.
Haddad Maia, ranked No. 24 in the world heading into the tournament, won the match point when Swiatek put a forehand long and wide.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., who acquired the Canadian Open the last time the women played in Toronto in 2019, was scheduled to kick off Centre Court’s evening slate with a match against China’s Zheng Qinwen.
Earlier, Coco Gauff moved on to the quarterfinals of the WTA event with an entertaining and error-filled 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) win over Aryna Sabalenka.
Serving for the match, the 10th-seeded American put the contest away on her first match point when Sabalenka returned Gauff’s serve long.
Sabalenka, the sixth seed from Belarus, tossed her racket in frustration after surrendering the point in a marathon match that took three hours 11 minutes to complete.
Both players struggled with windy conditions at Sobeys Stadium, with Sabalenka committing 18 double faults and Gauff hitting into 15. Sabalenka had 42 unforced errors overall, while Gauff had 32.
Sabalenka and Gauff both struggled with their service game as the wind swirled before a packed house at the venue’s grandstand, though both were able to hold through the first 10 games.
Gauff will face Romania’s Simona Halep in the quarterfinals. Halep, a two-time Canadian Open champion, defeated Swi tzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-2, 7-5 to begin the day’s slate of matches at Centre Court.
