For the fifth time in 10 WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz meetings, Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Aryna Sabalenka — this time in a back-and-forth 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4 victory that spanned 2 hours and 29 minutes on Saturday night in Toronto.

Toronto: Scores | Order of play | Draws

“I just tried to play every single point as if it was the last one because with her, you don’t a lot of chances during the match,” Alexandrova said in her on-court interview. “I had a lot today, but I couldn’t realize some of them. But 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.”

Instead, the No. 16 seed absorbed the blow of dropping the second set, then another when she was broken at love to begin the decider. She absorbed that, too. And when Sabalenka broke once more to get back on serve as Alexandrova tried to take a 5-2 lead, Alexandrova answered with one final break in the last game, converting her third match point to seal the upset and advance to the quarterfinals.

It’s not quite unchartered territory. This marks Alexandrova’s third win over a World No. 1, following victories over Iga Swiatek (Miami 2024) and Sabalenka (Doha 2025). It’s also her sixth WTA 1000 quarterfinal appearance and her first since… Doha 2025.

Here’s how she got it done:

Return winners

Not many players possess the weaponry necessary to pick apart Sabalenka’s powerful serve, but Alexandrova is one of the few. Staying true to her mantra of playing every point like it’s the last, she routinely attacked on return — first serve, second serve, it didn’t matter. She was out in front of everything.

The result was a barrage of return winners off both wings.

Hot shots: Alexandrova spams return to sender button against powerful Sabalenka serve

“If I would be able to create some pressure on the return, especially on the first (serve), it will create some kind of tension on the court,” Alexandrova said in her post-match press conference. “Sometimes it was really working, but of course it cost me a lot of errors the same way.

“But I think that helped me a lot because on my serve I was just trying to get the ball in and start the point. But on her serve I was trying to be super aggressive.”

Constant pressure

Even when Alexandrova wasn’t hitting outright return winners, she kept Sabalenka under pressure. She generated 15 break-point chances across the match.

After falling behind 2-0 in the opening set, Alexandrova responded with a trio of break points in the ensuing game, converting the third for 2-1. She broke again for 3-2 and consolidated for 4-2 before Sabalenka fought back to force a tiebreak. Despite entering with a 4-5 record in tiebreaks this season, Alexandrova ran away with this one to claim the opener.

Alexandrova again had Sabalenka under duress in the second set, earning three break points, but the World No. 1 escaped each time and forced a decider. In the third, Alexandrova finally broke through again, converting 3 of 7 break points to secure the victory — though Sabalenka gave her a brief scare with a pair of aces on her first two match points, the first coming on a masterful second serve.

“I was like, ‘No way she’s going to do this,'” Alexandrova said. “Because it was an unbelievable serve for the second serve. It was like super kick, with a super spin. I expected it to be a good serve, so I didn’t wait for some easy serve to just hit the ball. I expected that, but I didn’t expect it to be that good (laughing). I’m like, ‘Oh, my God,’ but there’s nothing I can do about it. So just refocus and onto the next point.”

What’s ahead

Alexandrova will face No. 9 seed Elina Svitolina, who withstood a late second-set rally to defeat No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 later Saturday night to reach the quarterfinals.

“She is a hell of a player, so I was expecting her to come back a little bit more,” Svitolina said to press afterward. “Sometimes she’s playing really sharp, so it was not an easy one, but I’m really happy with the way I could handle the (game) at 5-4 and serve it out to close the match.”

Svitolina beats Anisimova in Top 10 clash to reach Toronto quarters

Historically, the matchup is slightly less favorable for Alexandrova than the one against Sabalenka. Svitolina leads the head-to-head 3-1, but their last meeting came in Berlin in 2021 — a match Alexandrova won in straight sets.

This is Alexandrova’s third quarterfinal of 2026, following Abu Dhabi — where she reached the final — and Bad Homburg. She entered Toronto with an 11-18 record on the season and had fallen to No. 19 in the PIF WTA Rankings after finishing last year at a career-best No. 10. More than half of her points are on offer in the final months of the season.

This win over Sabalenka gives her hope that there’s a path forward after all.

“It means a lot because this year was quite difficult for me. Especially after last season, which was really good. Maybe the expectations from last year didn’t help me,” Alexandrova said. “A win like this helps so much to gain some kind of confidence that you’re doing the right thing, and that maybe you are on the right path — that everything you’re doing is working, so you just need to continue doing the same thing.”