Tennis fan favorite Naomi Osaka bounced Leylah Fernandez from the National Bank Open on Sunday, taking the Round of 16 match 6-4, 6-4.
The result ended Canada's final singles contender at the 2026 Canadian Open. It also pushed Osaka into her third straight deep hard-court showing. The win is just more proof that Osaka's tennis has clicked since a Wimbledon quarterfinal in July, which included a stunning upset of world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and a semifinal DC Open run earlier this month.
Naomi Osaka's Serve Decides the Match in Toronto
This weekend, it was her serve that carried the afternoon. The decisive break came at 3-3 in both sets, as Osaka fired six aces to Fernandez's one. She won 73% of her service points and dropped serve just once in a match that lasted 1 hour and 21 minutes.
Fernandez took the result hard. "I'm pretty disappointed. I had opportunities to put pressure on her, but I didn't do a good job of keeping the ball in," the 23-year-old told reporters.
Meanwhile, the road to another title is now wide open for Osaka.
Ranked No. 13, she's reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since Montréal in 2025. She now faces a tough test in No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, as Toronto prepares for the pair's first career meeting.
