Azarenka pulls out, Stearns advances to the last eight

American Peyton Stearns advanced to the quarter-finals of the National Bank Open after Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, the No 12 seed, retired due to injury. Stearns, ranked No 53, was leading 6-4, 4-2 when Azarenka, ranked No 19, withdrew from the match at the Aviva Centre on Friday evening. The 22-year-old American will face No 3 seed Jessica Pegula in the next round. Stearns had victories against Russian Anna Blinkova and No 7 seed Madison Keys in earlier matches. In other last-16 results at the Toronto WTA 1000 tournament, players like Katie Boulter, Coco Gauff, Elise Mertens, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, Taylor Townsend, and Emma Navarro also had successful matches.