Belgian Elise Mertens advances to the last 16 of the WTA National Bank Open after defeating Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-4. Mertens, ranked 35th, will now face Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the 6th seed, in the next round.
This marks Mertens’ second victory over Osaka this year, with Osaka leading their head-to-head 4-3 overall. In the previous round, Mertens won against American qualifier Katie Volynets, while Osaka defeated the 9th seed Ons Jabeur.
Other second-round results from the Toronto WTA 1000 tournament include Victoria Azarenka’s win over Greet Minnen, Aryna Sabalenka’s victory against Yue Yuan, and Jelena Ostapenko’s win over Paula Badosa.
Overall, the competition is heating up at the Aviva Centre with some exciting matches and unexpected outcomes.
