With all top-five seeds ousted, NBO is anyone's to win

MONTREAL — Suddenly, the National Bank Open presented by Rogers is very much anyone’s game.

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek’s 7-6 (1), 6-3 loss to No. 16 Clara Tauson and No. 5 Amanda Anisimova's 6-4, 6-1 setback to No. 10 Elina Svitolina on Sunday night left none of the top-five seeds in the quarterfinals Monday and Tuesday at the WTA Tour 1000 event.

The top-ranked players have taken a beating, with No. 1 and French Open champion Coco Gauff, Wimbledon champ Swiatek, No. 3 and two-time defending NBO champ Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Mirra Andreeva and Wimbledon runner-up Anisimova all ousted before the final four days of the competition.

The upsets open the door for several quarterfinalists to make huge moves, including 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko — who knocked out Gauff — and Naomi Osaka.

The Japanese star and four-time Grand Slam champion, who took a leave from the tour in 2023 to become a mother, advanced to her first WTA 1000 or Grand Slam quarterfinal in 19 months by crushing Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday.

The 49-minute, 25-second match was the second fastest completed match since 2018, just 14 seconds longer than the 2023 Montreal final between Pegula and Liudmila Samsonova.

Osaka, who has been open about her mental-health struggles in the past, said she’s now more relaxed about the final results.

“Honestly, I am allowing myself to enjoy it, and I think for me it's kind of ironic just because … it's really hard to describe, but I don't want it as bad, which is kind of weird to say,” she said.

“I'm kind of just allowing myself to, I guess, see what the results of my practising is and, like, all that other jazz. I'm happy with where my tennis will take me, no matter what happens.”

That’s not to say Osaka will be satisfied no matter what transpires.

“I talked to my dad, and he said just being healthy and happy is a form of success. I agree with that, but I want more,” said Osaka, who will face Svitolina in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

“… Of course, I would want to win Slams, of course I would want to be in the top 10, but I think I need to pace myself and go for the mini goals, and they'll eventually turn into the big goals. I think being in the quarterfinals here is a step to hopefully getting to the semis and the finals, so I'll try to treat it more like that.”

Tauson, meanwhile, exacted revenge on Swiatek after the Polish star hammered her 6-4, 6-1 in the round of 16 at Wimbledon last month.

"It's my second win like that (against a top-five player) in my career and second win like that in this year (after beating Aryna Sabalenka in Dubai). So obviously it's really great, and it shows all the hard work I've been doing has been the right thing," Tauson said.

The Dane will next face No. 6 Madison Keys, who fought off two match points to beat Karolina Muchova 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the first match Sunday.

“I think it kind of loosened me up once I was serving for the match,” the American said of playing with the threat of losing one point away. “Just kind of knowing I had already been match-point down. Just kind of knowing that I really had to go for it, kind of play with nothing to lose.”

It’s the third time this season the American has fended off at least one match point to win. The first occurrence came in the 2025 Australian Open semis against Swiatek, a tournament Keys went on to capture for her first career Grand Slam title.

"I think ideally you win matches not being match-point down,” she said with a smile. “But when you're kind of able to tough it out and figure it out, I think it just gives you a little bit of confidence. I feel like I've had a lot of matches so far this season where I may not have played my best tennis the entire time. But in important moments, being able to figure it out, that’s definitely given me some confidence that I can do it at any moment.”

Mboko faces unseeded Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain in the second quarterfinal Monday.

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