TORONTO — Elena Rybakina just keeps fighting at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
The No. 2 seed won her third three-set match of the tournament, rallying to beat No. 11 seed Naomi Osaka 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a quarterfinal on Tuesday.
The Kazakhstan native will next face No. 4 seed Coco Gauff. The American got a walkover win earlier in the night against Belinda Bencic after the Swiss player withdrew with a hip injury.
After being the second-best player on the court for the first set and much of the second, Rybakina elevated her game in front of a big crowd that included Kawhi Leonard in the front row.
Her best moments came in the third set. Trailing 3-2 and with serve, Rybakina came back from a 40-love deficit and then fought off a fourth break point in the game before converting a huge hold.
Rybakina then notched the decisive break. On the best point of the match, she raced way back to retrieve an Osaka lob, made a great forehand get and then saw her opponent send a shot out off the net.
Two points later, Rybakina had her break on an Osaka unforced error, and the four-time Grand Slam winner kicked her racket in frustration.
Rybakina finished things off with three aces in a dominant service game to love.
Rybakina won the Australian Open early in the year for her second career Grand Slam title, but bowed out in the second round at the French Open and third round at Wimbledon.
She was a semifinalist at the NBO last year in Montreal, not converting on a match point in a loss to eventual champ Victoria Mboko of Canada. Mboko, out of this year’s tournament with a knee injury, went on to beat Osaka in the final of the WTA Tour 1000 event.
Gauff, also a two-time Grand Slam champ, will have had more rest ahead of the semifinal against the 2026 WTA ace leader. While Rybakina was playing a tough match on Centre Court, Gauff went to hit some shots on a back court and exchanged a hug and took a picture with Leonard in the players’ lounge.
The other semifinal pits No. 7 Iga Swiatek of Poland against No. 9 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
Swiatek is a six-time Grand Slam champ.