Aug 9 : World number one Aryna Sabalenka suffered a setback in her U.S. Open build-up after she was beaten 7-6(3) 4-6 6-4 by Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round of the Canadian Open in Toronto on Saturday.The 16th-seeded Alexandrova fought a hard battle lasting nearly two and a half hours to secure her quarter-final berth.Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and reigning U.S. Open winner, recovered from a set down to force a decider but was unable to halt Alexandrova's aggressive shot-making in the final set.The Belarusian broke early in the opening set before Alexandrova rallied to force a tiebreak, which the Russian won to move ahead.
Sabalenka responded by seizing control of the second set with a break for a 4-3 lead before serving out to level the match.Alexandrova held her nerve in the decider as Sabalenka's error count rose. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, the top seed saved two match points, but a double fault on the third handed victory to the Russian."I just tried to play every single point as if it was the last one because with her, you don't (get) a lot of chances during the match," Alexandrova said in her on-court interview."Honestly, I was trying not to think about the score or anything. Just hit the ball, and that's it."I'm super happy that I could win because after the second set, I thought (the chance) was already past me."Alexandrova will face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who defeated American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova 6-2 6-4, for a place in the semi-finals.
