The National Bank Open women’s tennis tournament saw positive developments following a slow start. Canada’s Leylah Fernandez advanced to the Round of 16, generating excitement alongside breakout star Alex Eala. Headliners Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, and Iga Swiatek remained in the competition.
Tournament director Karl Hale expressed satisfaction with the event’s progress, anticipating further growth for tennis in Canada. The absence of 2025 champion Victoria Mboko due to injury led Tennis Canada to provide wild-card entries to Bianca Andreescu and six other Canadians, but only two, Kayla Cross and Katherine Sebov, progressed to the second round.
Fernandez, seeded 30th, secured a spot in the third round by defeating Mirra Andreeva and will face Naomi Osaka next. Eala, the 21-year-old breakout star from the Philippines, advanced to the Round of 16 and will play against Belinda Bencic.
In other matches, Swiatek secured a quarterfinal berth with a win against Marta Kostyuk, setting up a match against Diana Shnaider. Upsets included Aryna Sabalenka’s loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elina Svitolina’s victory over Amanda Anisimova.
Despite weather challenges and a thinner media presence, the tournament continued smoothly. In the men’s singles, Rafael Jodar defeated Jiri Lehecka to reach the quarterfinals, facing France’s Arthur Fils next. Luciano Darderi also advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Nuno Borges. Brandon Nakashima and Ben Shelton progressed in their matches, with Nakashima achieving his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal appearance.
While Canadian singles players exited the competition, the all-Canadian doubles team of Duncan Chan and Alexis Galarneau advanced by defeating the eighth-seeded pair of Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Kevin Krawietz. The tournament will continue until Thursday.