Osaka beats Ostapenko as Pegula's title defence ends

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka reached the fourth round of the Canadian Open with a dominant win over 22nd-seed Jelena Ostapenko.

The unseeded 27-year-old was impressive in the 6-2 6-4 success and will face a last-16 tie with a second successive Latvian in Anastasija Sevastova.

Japan's Osaka, a winner twice at the US and Australian Opens, will meet Sevastova after the 35-year-old upset defending champion, and third seed, Jessica Pegula 3-6 6-4 6-1 in Montreal on Friday.

Now ranked 49th in the world, Osaka has not reached the quarter-final of a Grand Slam or WTA 1000 event since returning from maternity leave at the start of 2024.

But Osaka impressed by winning the first set in 30 minutes before moving 3-1 ahead in the second.

She broke again for a 4-2 lead when Ostapenko netted a forehand and served for the match at 5-3.

But her 28-year-old opponent saved a match point on a forehand crosscourt winner and broke back when Osaka sent a forehand beyond the baseline.

Ostapenko, though, was broken again to love in the final game, with the Latvian netting a backhand to conclude matters after an hour and 12 minute.

"Granted, she broke me a couple times, but she's a really good returner, so I can't take that personally," said Osaka.

"I went in there knowing she's a great player and if I give her a chance she's going to hit a winner on me, so I just tried to keep my pace and stay as solid as I could."

Britain's Emma Raducanu is also in action later, when she takes on American fifth seed Amanda Anisimova.

American Pegula has an excellent record in Canada - she was on an 11-match winning run in Montreal.

But she was shocked by world number 386 Sevastova who, like Osaka, returned from maternity leave in early 2024.

This was the 35-year-old's first win over an opponent ranked in the WTA top five since beating Karolina Pliskova in 2017.

There was no hint of an upset when Pegula broke her in the opening game and again to love to claim the first set.

But a forehand winner earned Sevastova a break for a 5-4 lead in the second set and she denied Pegula three chances to break for a crucial hold to force a decider.

And when Pegula sent a down-the-line forehand wide to surrender a break and hand Sevastova a 2-1 lead, the Latvian did not let the momentum go.

She swept up the remaining games, including two further breaks, to claim a remarkable win in one hour and 41 minutes.

"It was a weird match for me," said Pegula. "I felt like I had total control and then I just played a couple of terrible games for, like three games.

"That totally flipped the momentum of the match, and I went from being up a set and 2-0 to being down very quickly.

"I don't really feel like I'm playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy, which I don't like. I've got to figure it out."