Pegula rolls into Toronto quarterfinals; Townsend breaks through

Taylor Townsend continues to make the most of her second chance at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.

The American lucky loser -- making her tournament debut -- surrendered just three games to upset No.4 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-1 in Friday's third round to advance to her first Hologic WTA Tour quarterfinal in singles at any level.

Townsend was one of four Americans to book her place in the quarterfinals in Friday's day session with No.3 seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula, No.8 seed Emma Navarro and Amanda Anisimova all joining her. 

Toronto: Scores | Draws | Order of Play

After losing in qualifying to Erika Andreeva, seven-time WTA doubles title-winner Townsend took Yulia Putintseva's spot in the main draw and hasn't lost a set since. She led No.16 seed Dayana Yastremska by a set and a break in the first round before the Ukrainian retired with a shoulder injury, and beat Canadian wild card Marina Stakusic losing just two games -- before her best effort yet against Ostapenko.

She recorded her sixth career Top 20 win, and second of the season, in exactly 1 hour. 

The left-hander was dominant in all facets of the game, as she broke Ostapenko's serve six times and won 70% of the points played on her own serve. Townsend hit five aces as a part of her 15 total winners, striking just eight unforced errors, while Ostapenko racked up 27 unforced errors. 

It was a performance befitting a player who'd prepared pitch-perfectly -- but for Townsend, it was anything but. With the start of the day's play in Toronto delayed due to rain, Townsend arrived on site for the match -- scheduled not before 12:30 p.m. -- at 12:24 p.m.

"I just did two bike sprints, and I said, 'Let's go!," she said.

"I guess you've just got to get lucky every once in a while," a beaming Townsend continued post-match. "The day that I found out I was playing as a lucky loser, I got here at 8:30 in the morning, and I found out I was playing not before 5 p.m.

"Those type of days, where you have to go and play and just figure things out, I think it really works well for me. I'm just trusting the work that I'm putting in, and I'm having fun.

"I'm having a great time, and I'm just riding this wave."

Townsend's compatriots also did not lose a set between them:

• Pegula was a 6-2, 6-4 winner against another American, 20-year-old Ashlyn Krueger, who had upset No.15 seed Leylah Fernandez in the second round. Pegula was twice a break down in the second set, but won the last three games. 
• Navarro moved through to her second career WTA 1000 quarterfinal with a 7-5, 7-5 win over No.8 seed Marta Kostyuk. A quarterfinalist in Indian Wells, Navarro came from 4-1 and 5-2 down to win the first set, saving a set point along the way, and avoided a similar fate in the second set. She had leads of 3-0, 4-1 and 5-3 before eventually winning the match in 1 hour and 46 minutes. 
• Former World No.21 Anisimova, entered in Canada on a protected ranking, only needed to play one set to advance, as No.10 seed Anna Kalinskaya retired after losing the opener 6-2. Anisimova last reached a quarterfinal at WTA 1000 level in 2022, when she did so in Madrid and Rome.