Jabeur dethrones Andreescu in Montreal third round; Pegula ends Collins' streak

For the second straight night in Montreal, Ons Jabuer rallied from a set down to stay alive at the Omnium Banque Nationale.

Twice a break up against defending champion and No.2 seed Bianca Andreescu before losing the set in a tiebreak, the Tunisian won eight of the last nine games from 4-4 in the second set to seal a berth in the quarterfinals, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1.

With partisan fans of both players creating a raucous atmosphere, 2 hours and 39 minutes of thrilling drama not only saw a stoppage of play due to rain, but Andreescu battle gamely through an injury scare late in the second set: serving at deuce in the eighth game, the Canadian landed awkwardly on her left foot in some pain, but was able to continue the match after receiving a medical timeout. 

"I wanted to move her to see what kind of pain she was feeling. I was trying to make her move a lot to see if it's really affecting her," Jabeur said.

"I think she got tired a little bit. I can see that from the second set. It's completely normal. Honestly, I didn't focus a lot of what she was having. I was more focusing on myself, of what I should do. I really focused on returning better, serving better. It helped me a lot in the third set."

Nonetheless, that proved a turning point for the Tunisian, who employed angles and deft dropshots throughout to expertly move Andreescu around the court. A sparkling stat line saw Jabeur fire nine aces and hit 37 winners in all, and she broke serve six times on 11 opportunities.

"[It was a] great match. It was a tough one. I know coming to play Bianca here in Montreal, in Canada, was going to be difficult," Jabeur said.

"But I think I played good tennis. I had my opportunities in the first set. But I'm glad that I did good in the second and third set and I didn't let the rain, the injuries, stopping all the time, make me lose my focus. I'm pretty happy with the way I stayed mentally and physically very ready."

After failing to convert a break point in the first game of the decider, Andreescu faded somewhat on return: Jabuer lost just four points in her last three service games, wrapping up a spot in her fifth quarterfinal of the season with a service winner.

"I'm super disappointed in how I played, but at the same time Ons played super well. I tried to play my best with what I had today. She was kind of disrupting my rhythm a little bit. The whole toe situation didn't help at all. I wish my serve was a bit better today. She definitely took advantage of that," Andreescu said in defeat.

"I'm sick and tired of retiring. For sure I could have, but I did not want to tonight. It's super bruised. It hurt on a lot of shots. I try not to show it. She also took advantage of that. She was just playing lights out in the third set. Didn't give me anything to really feed off of.

"She's been having an incredible season and I think she can win the tournament for sure if she plays like she did today and even yesterday I think she can win the tournament."

Jabeur had previously opened up leads of 4-2 and 5-3 in the first set after falling behind 2-0, but Andreescu broke her when she served for it at 5-4, and saved two further break points on her own serve at 5-5 before coming through the tiebreak. 

"I think the fact that I didn't take my opportunities at the beginning, especially in the first set, it kind of changed a little bit. But coming back from I think the rain, I know I wasn't putting enough of her first serves in, so my returns, and I think I really worked on that and stayed solid," Jabeur continued.

"The fact that I did that, I gained confidence. She doubted herself in the serve. I think that was the key because we saw the stats. I know I wasn't getting enough first serves in. It was pretty good strategy. I was ready, and I took more confidence. It was even better in the third set."

She'll face Jessica Pegula in the last eight after the American put an end to the 12-match winning streak of her compatriot Danielle Collins, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

In a match that ended well past 1 a.m. local time, Pegula rallied from 4-1 down in the opening set but ultimately needed six match points to win in a thrilling finish. Leading 5-2 in the decider, Pegula had a match point on Collins' serve, and four more on her own in the next game. Not ready to see her streak end without a fight, Collins won three straight games to level at 5-5, and had two break points at 5-5 before Pegula steadied her nerve to seal a 2 hour, 28-minute victory. 

"I'm really excited to get the win - Danielle has been playing amazing tennis and you could see why," said Pegula. "Even when I was up she was still out there fighting and competing and trying to figure it out."