Rybakina snaps into hardcourt form with opening Canada win

Elena Rybakina got her US Open pre-season off to a shaky start on Wednesday as the double Grand Slam champion overcame a multitude of errors to  defeat Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 at the Toronto Masters.

The winner of Wimbledon and Australian Open titles is hoping for a turnaround this season after modest showings in Paris and London at the pair of summer majors.

The Kazakh advanced in Canada helped by 15 aces but counterbalanced by 16 double faults.

Defeat of the Australian was the 35th win of the season for Rybakina, who also won the WTA Finals at the end of 2025.

Over the two-and-a-half-hour span, Rybakina delivered 58 each of both winners and unforced errors in an erratic victory.

Two of her doubles landed in a row as she lost the second set and she delivered three more while serving for victory in the deciding set.After sneaking through, she now plays American Ann Li.

Third seed Jessica Pegula had no stage a fightback to preserve a spotless opening-match record in Canada.

The two-time champion defeated Pole Magdalena Frech, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and is yet to lose an opening match in the neighboring country.

Swiss Belinda Bencic defeated former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-1 to get her hardcourt campaign off and running.

“It it was a first round, which is a little bit tough. I had some challenges after Wimbledon with a little ongoing injury.

“I wasn’t really sure that I’m going to playhere, so I’m really happy that I made it and won the first match.”