National Bank Open Preview: Osaka’s rebound faces tough tests from Svitolina
Naomi Osaka’s climb could restore the ranks of the best players in the world, which remains the main sub-episode of the National Bank Open proposed by Rogers.
Osaka is a minority champion of four times, and he ranked the highest-ranked female player in 2019, winning just one game in four-game victory in Montreal. The 27-year-old will be on Tuesday in the quarterfinals in the form of Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (the 12th-ranked player in the world) on the central court of the IGA Stadium.
Osaka ranks 49th in the world and missed all of 2023 during maternity leave. The Japanese player has been working steadily in 2025, perhaps very deep in the NBO.
The drama in Osaka is a huge topic in the tournament, but it’s just a few things on Montreal and Toronto’s NBO’s third action day.
The men’s dormitory continues
Top seeds in the NBO Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov won the final four games with a winning victory on Monday, but there are still two semi-finals snatched in Toronto.
A pair of large American players competed on Tuesday, with world No. 4 Taylor Fritz defeating Andrey Rublev in prime time on the central court at Sobbis Stadium. Fritz had ousted Canada’s Gabriel Diallo earlier in the draw, who survived the grave fear of Jiri Lehecka in Czechia, and in 16 rounds Fritz won three sets, each requiring a breaking decisive game.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Ben Shelton has been released this season as the No. 7 player in the world, and he will face Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the final quarterfinals of the NBO. The two won three sets in the final round, Shelton Downing Flavio Cobolli, while De Minaur defeated Frances Tiafoe.
All of the seeds bounced out of the NBO’s top five seeds, and suddenly ranked No. 6 Madison Key is the most popular player in the field. Americans will face Dane Clara Tauson – NBO’s 16Th Seeds – in the IGA’s Central Court quarterfinals. The Keys need a third set to play pire before they screamed Karolina Muchova on Sunday.
Osaka and Svitolina will beat the women’s final game on the central court after the Key and Towson battle.
Broadcast timetable (ET has been
Women: 6 pm, SportsNet 360, SportsNet+
Men: 7 pm, SportsNet One, SportsNet+
Match schedule (always ET)
Centre Court (starting from 4 pm)
Not before 6 pm
[6] Madison Keys (USA) and [16] Clara Towson (Denmark)
[10] Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) vs. Naomi Osaka (Japan)
Centre Court (starting from 4:30 pm)
[4] Kevin Kravitz (Dermany) / Tim Putz (Dermany) and [2] Julian Cash (UK) / Lloyd Glasspool (UK)
Not before 7 pm
[6] Andrey Rublev (Russia) and [2] Taylor Fritz (US)
[9] Alex de Minaur (Australia) and [4] Ben Sheldon (USA)
