Victoria Mboko’s journey in the Toray Pan Pacific Open ended on Friday as she was defeated 6-3, 7-6(4) by Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals. During the one-hour, 31-minute match, the Canadian young player managed to win 83.3% of her first-serve points and only allowed one break point in the loss.
Rybakina, seeded second in the tournament, served five aces to secure her spot in the semifinals at the WTA 500 hard court event. This quarterfinal match marked a rematch between the two players, with Mboko previously defeating Rybakina in a semifinal at the National Bank Open in Montreal, where she eventually emerged as the tournament champion as a wild-card entry.
Additionally, Rybakina also eliminated Canada’s Leylah Fernandez from the Pan Pacific Open by defeating her 6-4, 6-3 in a second-round encounter a day earlier.
In a separate development, both Canadian players Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov withdrew from their respective quarterfinal matches at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament held on Friday. Auger-Aliassime, hailing from Montreal and a two-time winner of the ATP 500 event, retired after losing the first set 6-3 against Jaume Munar from Spain.
On the other hand, Shapovalov, who retired while trailing 3-6, 6-3, 4-1 to Joao Fonseca from Brazil, was coming off a strong performance in the previous week’s semifinal in Stockholm. The withdrawal of Auger-Aliassime, who had recently won the trophy in Brussels, dealt a blow to his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin.
Ranked 12th in the world and ninth in the Race to Turin standings, Auger-Aliassime faced challenges after appearing to experience discomfort in his lower back during the match. Shapovalov, ranked 23rd globally, initially showed promise in the first set against Fonseca but eventually retired due to the Brazilian’s strong play, setting up a semifinal match between Munar and Fonseca.
Meanwhile, in the women’s doubles quarterfinals at the Tokyo Open, Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Sofia Kenin were defeated by Luisa Stefani from Brazil and Timea Babos from Hungary.