Elena Rybakina and Dayana Yastremska will face off in the Omnium Banque Nationale Round of 16 after straight-sets wins on Thursday night.
No. 9 seed Rybakina of Kazakhstan held off a late charge by Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian and prevailed 6-0, 7-6(5) in 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Rybakina reached the Omnium Banque Nationale semifinals at Montreal in 2023, but she missed last year’s edition in Toronto due to illness. Back at the event this year, she hasn’t dropped a set in her first two matches this fortnight.
A semifinalist in Washington last week, Rybakina came into the match with an 18-3 record this year against players ranked outside the Top 50. That pattern held as Rybakina breezed through the first set without the loss of a game.
However, World No. 52 Cristian battled valiantly in the second set before Rybakina at last triumphed in the tiebreak. Cristian made a long-awaited Top 50 debut earlier this summer, but Rybakina came out on top in Montreal nevertheless.
No. 30 seed Yastremska of Ukraine, meanwhile, posted an upset by taking down No. 8 seed Emma Navarro of the United States 7-5, 6-4 in 1 hour and 42 minutes. Yastremska trailed 4-1 in the second set but reeled off the final five games of the clash.
Yastremska started the year 0-4 against Top 20 players, but she has picked up three Top 20 wins in the last two months. At the European Grand Slams, Yastremska beat No. 12 Diana Shnaider at Roland Garros and No. 2 Coco Gauff at Wimbledon.
Yastremska upsets Navarro in Montreal third round
Now she has added a win over Navarro to reach the Omnium Banque Nationale Round of 16 for the first time since her tournament main-draw debut in 2019.
Rybakina and Yastremska had their first professional meeting earlier this year, and Rybakina got the win on that occasion. She defeated Yastremska 6-3, 6-4 in the third round of the 2025 Australian Open.