Osaka & Keys reach Canadian Open quarter-finals

Naomi Osaka lost just one game as she outplayed Anastasija Sevastova to reach the Canadian Open quarter-finals in Montreal.

The four-time Grand Slam champion took just 49 minutes to wrap up a 6-1 6-0 victory against the 35-year-old Latvian, who had knocked out defending champion Jessica Pegula in the previous round.

Japan's Osaka, a winner twice at the US and Australian Opens, is seeking her first title since returning from maternity leave early in 2024.

The 27-year-old parted with coach Patrick Mouratoglou after less than a year and is now working with Poland's Tomasz Wiktorowski, former coach of Iga Swiatek.

"I had a solid plan coming in here and it just happened to work out pretty well," said Osaka, currently ranked 49 in the world.

American Madison Keys had to fight back to beat Czech Karolina Muchova 4-6 6-3 7-5 in two hours and 20 minutes.

Having saved two match points in her spirited success, the Australian Open champion will next face world number three Swiatek or Clara Tauson in the last eight.

In the men's event, Australian Alex de Minaur continued his fine form with a 6-2 4-6 6-4 win over American seventh seed Frances Tiafoe to reach the quarter-finals in Toronto.

Ninth seed De Minaur, who won the Washington Open a week ago, is looking to go one better than his runners-up spot in 2023.

Denmark's Holger Rune, seeded fifth, suffered a surprise exit as he was beaten 6-4 2-6 3-6 by Alexei Popyrin.