Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek became the latest seed to fall at the Canadian Open as she suffered a surprise defeat by Clara Tauson in the fourth round.
Denmark’s Tauson, ranked 19th, avenged her fourth-round loss to Swiatek at Wimbledon last month with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 victory over the second seed in Montreal.
Swiatek’s exit comes after top seed Coco Gauff, two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula and fourth seed Mirra Andreeva were all knocked out.
“Obviously it’s really great and it shows all the hard work I’ve been doing has been the right thing,” said Tauson, who won her third WTA title in January – her first since 2021.
“I’m getting more confidence in this kind of level and feeling like I belong here a bit more. I think that really helped me today in the important points.”
Tauson will face Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the quarter-finals after the American saved two match points en route to a 4-6 6-3 7-5 win over Czech Karolina Muchova.
Earlier on Sunday, four-time major winner Naomi Osaka lost only one game as she outplayed Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova to wrap up a 6-1 6-0 win in 49 minutes.
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 company with coach Patrick Mouratoglou after less than a year and is now working with Poland’s Tomasz Wiktorowski, former coach of 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.
