Emma Navarro reached the semifinals of the National Bank Open after defeating fellow American Taylor Townsend in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (5), on Saturday at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto. Navarro, seeded No. 8, will face either No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka or Amanda Anisimova in the next round.
Townsend, who made history as the first “lucky loser” to reach a WTA 1000 quarterfinal, saw her impressive run come to an end after entering the tournament as a replacement and upsetting No. 4 seed Jelena Ostapenko.
In other matches, defending champion Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed, was set to face Peyton Stearns in another all-American quarterfinal, while No. 14 Diana Shnaider, who eliminated top seed Coco Gauff, was scheduled to play No. 6 Liudmila Samsonova later in the day.
The tournament, featuring five American women in the quarterfinals—the highest number at a WTA 1000 event since 2009—continues with the finals set for Monday due to the Paris Olympics.
Canada’s singles players were eliminated earlier in the week, but the doubles competition still features Canadian representation, including top-ranked duo Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, who were scheduled to play Mia Kupres and Ariana Arseneault for a spot in the semifinals. The Fernandez sisters, Leylah and Bianca, also competed in the doubles quarterfinals against Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai.
