On Thursday, all third round matches will take place in both Montreal and Toronto, making for another extremely busy day of tennis. And two of those third round encounters see top 10 seeds collide. In Montreal, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime faces Cam Norrie in a rematch from last Friday’s Los Cabos semifinals. In Toronto, Aryna Sabalenka plays Coco Gauff, who survived an extended battle on Wednesday against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Thursday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time in Toronto and 12:00pm local time in Montreal.
Aryna Sabalenka (6) vs. Coco Gauff (10) – 11:00am on Grandstand in Toronto
Gauff’s second-round victory on Wednesday was a grueling affair. After failing to convert four match points in the second-set tiebreak, Coco finally prevailed in a third-set tiebreak. And she did so despite striking 13 double faults, a part of her game that continues to trouble her. Sabalenka spent over an hour less time on court, defeating Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets. Gauff leads their head-to-head 2-1, though all three meetings have been rather tight. And of late, Coco has been the much stronger performer. Going back to her run to the French Open final, Gauff has claimed 15 of her last 19 matches. By contrast, Sabalenka arrived in Toronto having lost three of her last four. While Coco will surely feel a bit tired on Thursday, she’ll also feel relieved having escaped what would have been a heartbreaking loss a day earlier, and should play a bit more freely. And most importantly, she’s currently feeling much more confident than Sabalenka.
Cameron Norrie (9) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (6) – Not Before 4:00pm on Court Central in Montreal
Last week in Los Cabos, Norrie took out Auger-Aliassime in straight sets. However, that was Cam’s first victory over Felix in five tries. The previous four had all gone the way of the Canadian, including another hard court matchup earlier this year in Rotterdam. Auger-Aliassime pulled out a dramatic first-set tiebreak on Wednesday night over Washington runner-up Yoshihito Nishioka in thrilling fashion, eventually prevailing in straights. Earlier in the day, Norrie advanced comfortably, allowing Botic van de Zandschulp only three games. Just six days removed from their last encounter, Felix will be eager for revenge, especially at his home country’s biggest event. But playing at home comes with a lot of pressure, and Auger-Aliassime is only 3-4 in his last seven matches. Cam is the more in-form player, and should be favored to earn his second win over Felix in less than a week.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Jessica Pegula (7) vs. Camila Giorgi – Giorgi is the defending champion, and is yet to drop a set through two matches. Last year in the semifinals of this same event, she defeated Pegula in three. But overall the American leads their head-to-head 5-2 at all levels, and has twice defeated Camila since that semifinal.
Nick Kyrgios vs. Alex de Minaur – It’s Australian versus Australian, and the Washington champ against the Atlanta champ. Kyrgios upset world No.1 and defending champion Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday, and has now won 13 of his last 14 matches. De Minaur has already defeated Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov this week.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia – In typical Swiatek fashion, she required just over an hour to prevail over Ajla Tomljanovic in her opening match. Haddad Maia eliminated Canada’s Leylah Fernandez on Wednesday, and won 13 straight matches on grass in June.
Bianca Andreescu vs. Qinwen Zheng – Andreescu outlasted Alize Cornet on Wednesday night in a tight three-setter. Qinwen benefitted from Ons Jabeur’s retirement due to abdominal pain during their second round matchup.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.