The United States’ Amanda Anisimova cruised to a stunning 6-4, 6-2 sweep of No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open in Toronto.
Anisimova saved 5 of 5 break points in the first set, then trailed 2-1 in the second before capturing the final five games of the match to advance to her first WTA 1000 semifinal.
“She’s an amazing player, so it’s always really tough playing against her. I played her earlier this year at the Australian Open when she was on fire,” Anisimova said of Sabalenka. “But I went in with a little bit of a different game plan, and I was really happy with how I was able to execute that today.”
Next up for Anisimova is countrywoman and No. 8 seed Emma Navarro, a 6-3, 7-6 (5) winner over another American, Taylor Townsend, on Saturday.
It’s also the first WTA 1000 semifinal for Navarro.
“She’s a player who is definitely on fire right now, she’s playing some great tennis,” Anisimova said of Navarro. “I’m sure it will be a tough match (Sunday). I’m going to talk a little bit with my coach about it, because it’s been awhile since I’ve played her. … I’m just looking forward to it.”
Townsend had nine aces and one double fault while Navarro finished with zero and eight, respectively, for the match, but it was the latter who came out on top thanks to a scrappy second-set victory.
Despite facing deficits of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, 5-4 and 6-5, Navarro never let the set slip away, going on to force a tiebreaker. That’s where Navarro fell behind 2-1 before flipping a switch to jump up 5-2, and she never faltered the rest of the way.
In another all-American battle, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula suffocated any chance of an upset with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Peyton Stearns.
Pegula knocked off Stearns in 89 minutes. She is headed to her fourth consecutive National Bank Open semifinal.
In the semifinals, Pegula will take on Diana Shnaider, the No. 14 seed, who upset No. 6 seed Liudmila Samsonova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in an all-Russian matchup.
Shnaider, who took out No. 1 seed Coco Gauff on Friday, recovered from a tough first set by breaking Samsonova twice in the second set. Tied 3-3 in the decisive third set, Shnaider broke Samsonova to go up 4-3 before closing out the match.
–Field Level Media
