Amanda Anisimova beats Aryna Sabalenka to reach Toronto semi-finals

TORONTO — Amanda Anisimova defeated second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the National Bank Open. It was her first victory over a top-10 player in nearly two years.

One of five American quarterfinalists, the 22-year-old Anisimova took a mental break from tennis last year. She has two WTA Tour titles – in 2019 in Bogota and 2022 in Melbourne.

“She’s a great player, so it’s always very difficult to play against her,” Anisimova said of Sabalenka, who has won the Australian Open the past two years.

Anisimova improved her score against Sabalenka to 5-2, having lost the previous two meetings.

“I played her earlier this year at the Australian Open when she was on fire,” Anisimova said. “I went in with a little bit of a different game plan, and I was really happy with how I was able to execute that today.”

Sabalenka, of Belarus, had eight double faults in windy conditions, the last at love-40 in the final game. She withdrew from Wimbledon with a shoulder injury and skipped the Paris Olympics

Anisimova will face eighth-seeded Emma Navarro in an all-American semifinal. Navarro defeated fellow American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-6 (5).

“It was really tough,” Navarro said. “The wind was changing.”

Townsend was the first “lucky loser” to reach a quarterfinal in the WTA 1000. She entered the main draw as a replacement due to injury.

“This week has been amazing,” Townsend said.

In the evening session, third-seeded reigning champion Jessica Pegula took on Peyton Stearns in another all-American duel, and 14th-seeded Russian Diana Shnaider played 6th-seeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova.

The five American quarterfinalists are the largest number of participants on the tour since 2001.

Pegula defeated Samsonova in the final in Montreal last year.