Tennis: Surprise defeat for Sabalenka in Toronto, Swiatek reaches quarterfinals

The WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto saw another major upset as world number one Aryna Sabalenka was defeated in the round of 16. The Belarusian player fell to Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 16th seed, in a hard-fought three-set match that lasted two hours and 31 minutes.

Sabalenka, who is preparing for the US Open where she aims to win her third consecutive title, faced Alexandrova with a history of close matches. The first set saw Sabalenka break serve early, but Alexandrova rallied to win the tiebreak. Sabalenka responded in the second set, securing a crucial break and serving to level the match.

In the deciding third set, Alexandrova gained an advantage with a break of serve, eventually leading 3-1. Despite saving two match points on her own serve at 4-5, Sabalenka's challenge ended with a double fault, handing the victory to the Russian.

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I just tried to play every point as if it was the last one.

"I just tried to play every point as if it was the last one," Alexandrova said after the match. "I was trying to take as many risks as possible because I felt like it was the only way to create opportunities." She added that she was happy to win, having initially felt her chance had passed after the second set.

Alexandrova will now face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Poland's Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in three sets.

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I was trying to take as many risks as possible because I felt like it was the only way to create opportunities.