Sabalenka falls in the round of 16 in Toronto, and Rybakina threatens the ranking
Tennis player Aryna Sabalenka, current number one in the world, was surprisingly eliminated from the WTA 1,000 tournament in Toronto on August 9, 2026. She lost by 2 sets to 1 to Russian Ekatarina Alexandrova, who occupies 19th place in the rankings, with partials of 7/6 (3), 4/6 and 6/4. This unexpected result gives Kazakh Elena Rybakina a chance to considerably close the gap in the dispute for the top of the world rankings. If the current number two wins the championship in Canada, the margin between the two will drop to just four points, standing at 8,670 for Sabalenka and 8,666 for Rybakina.
Despite her early elimination in the round of 16, Sabalenka earned 120 ranking points for her participation in Toronto, as she did not compete in the Canadian event the previous year. The athlete now turns her attention to the WTA 1,000 in Cincinnati, which will begin on August 13th. In this next tournament, she will have to defend the points she obtained by reaching the quarterfinals in the last edition, this being the last major event before the US Open Grand Slam.
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Meanwhile, Rybakina faces a negative balance of 270 points in the Toronto tournament, as she needs to defend her score from being a semi-finalist in last year’s Canadian competition. The Kazakh tennis player will also have to defend semi-finalist points at the next event in Cincinnati, increasing the pressure to maintain her position and continue the race for the lead.
Russian Ekatarina Alexandrova, responsible for Sabalenka’s elimination in Toronto, now needs to break a pattern that has affected other players this year: most of the tennis players who managed to beat the world number one were eliminated in the following round. Alexandrova will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, looking to advance and escape this “curse”.
