Fritz beats Canadian Diallo in Toronto in 3rd round

TORONTO: Second-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States beat 6-foot-8 Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 6-2 on Friday night in the third round of the National Bank Open.

“I thought the crowd was (very) nice for me playing the last player in the tournament from Canada,” Fritz said. “I thought it was going to be a little bit more hostile. But I guess everyone is just so nice. I’ve dealt with a lot worse.”

Fritz set up a fourth-round match in the hard-court event with 19th-seeded Jiri Lehecka of Czechia. Lehecka beat 15th-seeded Arthur Fils of France 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The 27-year-old Fritz is No. 4 in the world. He has 10 career ATP Tour titles, winning this year on grass at Eastbourne and Stuttgart.

In the late match, fourth-seeded Ben Shelton outlasted fellow American Brandon Nakashima 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (5). Shelton will face 13th-seeded Flavio Cobolli of Italy.

In the afternoon, sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia beat Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

“In the second and third sets, I was able to play more aggressive, fewer mistakes,” Rublev said. “Let’s see what’s happening next, I’m super excited and motivated.”

Seventh-seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States edged Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to set up a match with Washington winner Alex de Minaur of Australia. De Minaur advanced when countryman Christopher O’Connell withdrew.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner — the 2023 winner — and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz skipped the hard-court event that ends Thursday. No. 5 Jack Draper and No. 6 Novak Djokovic also are absent.

Pegula upset by Sevastova in Montreal

Two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula was eliminated in the third round, falling 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to Anastasija Sevastova.

Sevastova, a 35-year-old from Latvia who was ranked 11th in 2018 but has fallen to 386th, broke the third-seeded Pegula six times on 10 chances.

“Somehow, I was down 2-0 in the second set and started to play better and better,” Sevastova said. “Third set, I played really good. “Just trying to stay on the court as long as possible.”

In the night session, Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek of Poland routed Eva Lys of Germany 6-2, 6-2. The second-seeded Swiatek advanced to face 16th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark, a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.

“It’s always fun here,” Swiatek said. “It was a solid match so I’m happy to have a chance to play another one here. The match was different from how we played each other last time. I just focused on myself and knew what my plan was.”

Sevastova has played 24 WTA Tour-level matches in four years. She got a spot in the main draw with a protected ranking because of a knee injury. In March 2024, in her fourth tournament back from maternity leave, she tore her ACL at the ATX Open.

Sevastova is the lowest-ranked player to beat a top-10 player since Angelique Kerber edged Jelena Ostapenko last year at Indian Wells.