The WTA Toronto tournament begins the third round on Thursday. Situated before Cincinnati and the U.S. Open, Toronto carries obvious value for women’s tennis pros. If they post a good result in Canada, the pressure decreases in Cincinnati, and they can feel they have established some rhythm going into New York later in August. Failure to do anything at WTA Toronto increases pressure in Cincinnati, making it harder to build confidence on hard courts going into this stretch of the tennis season, when many ranking points are at stake. The quality of the matchups now gets even better, so let’s see which players rise to the challenge as the tournament heads toward the weekend in Canada. LWOS has our best bets for three matches. Post your best bets and thoughts in the comments.

WTA Toronto
Bartunkova – Anisimova: 17:00 EST

H2H: 0-0

Nikola Bartunkova will take on Amanda Anisimova for the first time in her career. Both ladies are a firm 13-6 on a hardcourt in 2026. Bartunkova is 28-16 this year while Anisimova is only 16-9, having played mostly hardcourt matches, with only one clay and two grass tournaments. This is Anisimova’s first hardcourt tournament since Miami back in March, though she has played in three other tournaments since then. Bartunkova has been active all year, and she also played in Prague before Canada. Anisimova hasn’t won a tournament this year, and has just two quarterfinal appearances and one semifinal appearance.   

Best Bet to Make

Anisimova is the favorite on the books by a little over a full point. Anisimova hasn’t been playing up to her normal level in 2026, and it doesn’t seem like she’s going to be taking that next step in her career this year. All that put aside, she should be more than capable of beating Bartunkova. Anisimova was a finalist here in 2024, but Bartunkova has never played in Toronto before. Canada is a great place for Anisimova to find her form before the final Major of the year, and one in which she was a finalist last year. She also returned to tennis after Wimbledon in Canada last year, except it was Montreal. We recommend taking Anisimova in straight sets. 

That being said, betting on Anisimova winning 2:0 is a value bet for sure.

Value bet/ the best odds: Anisimova winning 2:0 at 2.25 @WilliamHill

Svitolina – Potapova: 19:00 EST

H2H: 1-0

The featured matches of the third round at WTA Toronto are easily Elina Svitolina versus Anastasia Potapova and Kostyuk vs Keys. Svitolina’s only match with Potapova was in Monterrey, Mexico back in 2022. Svitolina is 38-11 with two titles in 2026. She’s had a bit of a slump in her last ten matches, going just 5-5. She’s won this tournament before, but it was back in 2017. She did have a quarterfinal appearance in 2019, but she’s not even made it past the second round in her only appearance since then. Potapova is no slouch at 27-17, but she hasn’t won any titles this year. 

Aug 13, 2023; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Jessica Pegula (USA) returns the ball against Liudmila Samsonova (not pictured) during singles final play at IGA Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports | Source: Lastwordonsports.com – Jim Smith

Best Bet to Make

Given that Svitolina is a favorite by as much as 1.5 points on some sites, we highly recommend sticking with her. Not only did she have little trouble with Potapova in their only match, but she’s been dominant more often than not in 2026. We know Svitolina was putrid at Wimbledon, but there’s no shame in losing to Eala this year. She’s playing out of her mind. We fully expect Svitolina to pull her mental game together and remind us why she’s ranked No. 9 in the World. 

That being said, betting on Svitolina winning 2:0 is a value bet for sure.

Value bet/ the best odds: Svitolina winning at 2.1 @bet-at-home

Pegula – Rakhimova: 14:00 EST

H2H: 0-0

Jessica Pegula will meet Kamilla Rakhimova for the first time. Rakhimova came into WTA Toronto needing to turn her season around. At 17-21, Rakhimova seems to be unable to shake her tendency to lose as often as she wins. The last time she posted a truly memorable record was her 53-19 2019 season. She just hasn’t transitioned to the WTA at the same level of play she showed in the ITF. Jessica Pegula enters Toronto at 8-2 in her last ten matches, with a final loss to Alexandra Eala at WTA Washington right before Toronto, and a loss to Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Safe to say she is playing at a level needed to win in the WTA. 

Best Bet to Make

Pegula has won two different tournaments, made four finals, six semifinals, and ten different quarterfinal appearances this year, if you add it all up. She’s over a 6-point favorite on the books for this one. There’s no big mystery as to how you should approach this. We recommend sticking to -7 games or under for Pegula. The more dominant victory might seem tempting, but why risk it when there’s solid cash to be made playing a less risky option? 

That being said, betting on Pegula -6.5 games is a value bet for sure.

Value bet/ the best odds: Pegula -6.5 games at 2.15 @1xBet

Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports