Emma Raducanu continued her impressive run on the North American hard courts by defeating Peyton Stearns in the second round of the Canadian Open in Montreal. The British player won 6-2, 6-4 against the American No. 37-ranked Stearns, who was broken twice and lost only four points on serve in the opening set.

Stearns pushed back in the second set, gaining a 4-2 lead, but Raducanu rallied to claim the next four games and close out the match. Raducanu now holds an undefeated 3-0 record against Stearns, not having dropped a set in their meetings.

Reflecting on the match, Raducanu said,

“I know Peyton is a really tough opponent, we’ve played two times in the past and always had really long matches. I’m really happy with how I came through in that match. I kind of lost my focus at some moments in the second set and she took advantage, but very happy that I came through against a top opponent and happy to extend my stay in Montreal.”

Raducanu added, “I just want to say thank you [to the fans], I saw the Union Jack in clutch moments and I was actually born in Canada, so to come back and to me it means so much to do well here and very happy to be into the next round.”

Starting her summer hard-court season at the Citi DC Open, Raducanu has won five of six matches in straight sets, including victories over Marta Kostyuk, Naomi Osaka, and Maria Sakkari, before falling to Anna Kalinskaya in the Washington semifinals. She began the Canadian Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

After her Washington run, Raducanu was ranked World No. 33, but dropped to No. 42 in the Live WTA Rankings once points from last year’s event dropped due to calendar changes. Her two wins in Montreal have lifted her back to No. 37; a win in her next match against World No. 7 Amanda Anisimova could move her up to No. 34.

Raducanu holds a 2-0 record over Anisimova, including straight-set wins at the Australian Open and Miami Open earlier this year. Securing a top 32 seeding at the US Open remains a realistic goal and would improve her chances of a favorable draw at the Grand Slam. Notably, Raducanu will not lose further points before the US Open as she did not play in last year’s Canadian or Cincinnati tournaments.

Iga Swiatek opened her 2025 Canadian Open campaign with a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over qualifier Hanyu Guo in the tournament’s second round in Montreal. The world No. 3 demonstrated the form that took her to the Wimbledon title, breaking the 27-year-old Chinese player six times, including four times in the second set, after a swift 4-0 lead in the first set.

In doing so, Swiatek extended her streak of consecutive games won to 24, continuing the momentum from her flawless Wimbledon final against Amanda Anisimova, and the closing games of her semi-final against Belinda Bencic. Reflecting on her performance, Swiatek said, “I prepared for this match like I would for any other.” She noted, “I saw that my opponent played great in the first round, so I had some information. However, I preferred to focus on myself, on getting adjusted to the hard court again.”

Swiatek also highlighted her preparation after Wimbledon, stating, “I had time to celebrate a little bit after Wimbledon and got back to practice already in Warsaw, but obviously in different conditions.” She added, “I’m happy I had a chance to come here earlier. I feel like every day I made a bit of progress, so that’s the best thing you can have at the beginning of a swing, and then you just have to keep it up.”

Her win marked her 115th victory at WTA 1000 level in just 142 matches, a feat only 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams has surpassed, achieving the same milestone in 130 matches since the format was introduced in 2009. Additionally, Swiatek extended her remarkable run of consecutive first-round wins on the WTA Tour to 63, coming just one short of Monica Seles’ record of 64.

Swiatek now prepares to face world No. 69 Eva Lys in the third round. She aims to claim her first Canadian Open title, having previously reached the semi-finals in 2023. The 24-year-old did not compete in last year’s tournament, held shortly after the Paris Olympics, but holds a career record of 7-3 at this event.

Gabriel Diallo, the towering 6-foot-8 right-hander from Montreal, secured his place in the third round of the National Bank Open in Toronto by defeating Italy’s Matteo Gigante 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) on Wednesday. The match, which lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes and was interrupted by rain, saw Diallo display resilience, saving two set points at 2-5 in the second set before battling back to force a tiebreak. Despite Gigante taking a 5-3 lead in the breaker, he faltered at the crucial moment, losing the last four points and double-faulting on match point.

Reflecting on the match’s ups and downs, Diallo commented,

“Tennis is sometimes pretty crazy with the momentum switches that you see throughout a match.”

Diallo, seeded 27th at his home event, is in the midst of a breakthrough season highlighted by his first ATP Tour title last month in the Netherlands. His next challenge will come against the winner of a later match between second-seeded American Taylor Fritz and Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena.