{"id":72845,"date":"2026-08-12T11:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/72845\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T11:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:12:09","slug":"rybakina-beats-osaka-to-reach-canadian-open-semis-against-gauff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/72845\/","title":{"rendered":"Rybakina beats Osaka to reach Canadian Open semis against Gauff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Second-seeded Elena Rybakina rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Naomi Osaka 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in their Canadian Open quarterfinal in Toronto on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The 2022 Wimbledon and 2026 Australian Open champion will face fourth-seeded Coco Gauff in the semifinals after the American advanced when Belinda Bencic withdrew with a hip injury.<\/p>\n<p>In the first tour-level meeting between Osaka and Rybakina, the Japanese star made a fast start, breaking in the opening game and maintaining her advantage to take the first set.<\/p>\n<p>The four-time Grand Slam champion then surged to a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Rybakina rallied and prevailed in a tiebreaker to force a deciding set.<\/p>\n<p>In the third set, Rybakina saved four break points before breaking Osaka&#8217;s serve in back-to-back games to seize control and seal the victory in 2 hours, 33 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>                    <a data-fancybox=\"gallery\" href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/455383.jpg\" data-caption=\"Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina (R) and Japan's Naomi Osaka shake hands during a National Bank Open tennis match, Toronto, Canada, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo)\"><br \/>\n                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/455383.jpg\" alt=\"Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina (R) and Japan's Naomi Osaka shake hands during a National Bank Open tennis match, Toronto, Canada, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo)\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none';\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><br \/>\n                     Kazakhstan&#8217;s Elena Rybakina (R) and Japan&#8217;s Naomi Osaka shake hands during a National Bank Open tennis match, Toronto, Canada, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo) <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This first game of the match was really tough because it cost me the set,&#8221; Rybakina said. &#8220;In the second I was just trying to stay closer to the score, even if I&#8217;m losing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s rare when you don&#8217;t play some players for so many years you&#8217;re on tour. She&#8217;s a great champion. She&#8217;s a fighter. I knew it would be a tough match.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier Tuesday, Gauff advanced without striking a ball after Bencic withdrew from their quarterfinal, giving the American more time to fine-tune her game ahead of the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n<p>The 2023 U.S. Open champion is into the 16th WTA 1000 semifinal of her career as the 22-year-old chases her first title of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Gauff finished runner-up in Miami and Rome before her Wimbledon campaign ended in a tight semifinal defeat. She has introduced new tactical elements to her game and has looked strong in Toronto, where she has not dropped a set.<\/p>\n<p>The only previous meeting between Gauff and Rybakina also came in Toronto, where the American won in three sets in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786533129_171_JN9LXf.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n                    The Daily Sabah Newsletter\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                    Keep up to date with what\u2019s happening in Turkey,<br \/>\n                    it\u2019s region and the world.\n                <\/p>\n<p>                    SIGN ME UP\n                <\/p>\n<p>\n                    You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.<br \/>\n                    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.\n                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Second-seeded Elena Rybakina rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Naomi Osaka 4-6, 7-6 (5),&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4471,46148,8065,8064,16184,8,4469,85,1257],"class_list":["post-72845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-osaka","tag-australian-open","tag-canadian-open","tag-coco-gauff","tag-elena-rybakina","tag-grand-slam","tag-japan","tag-naomi-osaka","tag-osaka","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}