No. 6 seed Keys and Osaka advance to National Bank Open quarterfinals
Published: 2025-08-04 04:21:21 | Views: 7
Madison Keys has advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open.
The sixth-seeded American rebounded from a one-set deficit to beat the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on a windy Sunday afternoon at IGA Stadium's Centre Court.
It marked the second straight come-from-behind win for Keys, who defeated American compatriot Caty McNally in the third round on Friday, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Keys, a runner-up at the 2016 tournament in Montreal, matched Ana Ivanovic for the longest gap between quarterfinal appearances at the event in the Open Era. Keys had not made it past the second round in Canada since losing to Simona Halep in that final nine years ago.
After squandering a break-point opportunity of her own in just the second game of the match, Keys was broken at love the following game to fall behind 2-1.
While breaks of serve were exchanged in the sixth and seventh games, that early break proved to be just enough for Muchova to take the opening set 6-4.
Keys bounced back in the second set. The 2025 Australian Open champion took advantage of an untimely double fault by Muchova, her first of the match, to break the Czech's service and pull ahead 3-1. Keys ultimately forced a decider, sealing the second set with a 172 km/h ace.
Despite opening the third and final set with a break of serve, there was plenty of adversity for Keys. After being broken back in the fourth game, Keys was forced to fend off a pair of match points in the tenth game.
This galvanized Keys, who broke the following game on her way to the win.
"Ideally, you win matches not being match point down," said Keys. "When you're able to kind of tough it out and figure it out, I think it just gives you a little bit of confidence."
Keys now awaits the winner of Sunday night's fourth-round match pitting 2025 Wimbledon champion and No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland against Denmark's Clara Tauson in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Osaka dominant in straight-sets win
Japan's Naomi Osaka cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 victory in just 49 minutes over Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova to also advance to the quarterfinals.
"I'm definitely really happy," said Osaka. "Today was obviously faster than I thought it would be, but I'm really happy with how the gameplan went. I'm excited to play my next match."
The former world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion has been steadily working her way back up the rankings after missing the entire 2023 season while on maternity leave. Osaka, currently ranked 49th in the world, is expected to jump at least 15 more spots with the win.
"I talked to my dad and he said just being healthy and happy is a form of success," said Osaka. "I agree with that, but I want more. Of course, I would want to win Slams, I would want to be in top 10, but I think I need to pace myself and go for the mini goals. Eventually, they'll turn into the big goals."
Osaka will next face the winner of Sunday night's matchup between 2025 Wimbledon finalist and fifth seed Amanda Anisimova and Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, the tournament's tenth seed.
De Minaur beats Tiafoe, through to men's quarters
Australia's Alex de Minaur pushed past American Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the men's singles quarterfinals at the National Bank Open on Sunday.
The ninth-seeded de Minaur broke on five of his 10 opportunities in the two-hour, 24-minute match. He also had six aces to five double faults and won 77 per cent of his first-serve points.
The seventh-seeded Tiafoe fired 10 aces to four double faults and won 74 per cent of his first-serve points. He broke on three of this seven chances.
De Minaur will face the winner of Sunday night's match between fourth-seeded American Ben Shelton and Italy's Flavio Cobolli.
Sixth seed Audrey Rublev of Russia also advanced with a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 3-0 win over No. 20 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, who retired in the third set.
The late match will have second seed Taylor Fritz of the United States face No. 19 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia, with the winner facing Rublev next.
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