WTA 1000 Montreal: Mboko Stuns Gauff, Rybakina Survives Against Yastremska

Marta Kostyuk was the first player to qualify for the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 in Montreal with a three-set victory over McCartney Kessler (5-7, 6-3, 6-3).

The Ukrainian was waiting to find out the identity of her next opponent, which could have been her compatriot Dayana Yastremska. The world No. 35 needed to defeat Elena Rybakina to advance.

After a tight match, Rybakina, who had a shaky start by losing the first set, ultimately found the resources to prevail. With her back against the wall at 4-5 in the decisive set, she faced pressure from her opponent, who came within two points of victory.

But the Kazakh, ranked 12th in the world, tightened her game and eventually secured a hard-fought win (5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in 2h31). On her fourth opportunity, Rybakina seized the chance to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will face Kostyuk.

The biggest surprise of the early fourth-round action was the elimination of world No. 2 Coco Gauff, who was outplayed by Canadian rising star Victoria Mboko (6-1, 6-4).

Struggling with her serve in this tournament, the American—who added six double faults to her weekly tally (43 across three matches)—was overwhelmed by the intensity of her young opponent. Mboko, a wildcard entry, has now reached her first-ever WTA 1000 quarterfinal.

For a spot in the semifinals, she will face Jessica Bouzas Maneiro. The Spaniard won the last match of the day against China’s Zhu Lin. In a match filled with breaks (17 in total, including 9 for Bouzas Maneiro), the world No. 51 ultimately prevailed (7-5, 1-6, 6-2).

Bouzas Maneiro, who had never advanced past the second round of a WTA 1000 before arriving in Canada this year, is now just two wins away from the final and faces the daunting task of taking on Mboko in front of her home crowd.