In her first match after a disappointing Wimbledon, Elena Rybakina (2) defeated Daria Kasatkina (61), who plays for Australia, with a score of 6:3, 5:7, 6:4. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

The Kazakh-Australian clash took place in the second round of the Canadian Open tennis tournament, a WTA-1000 event held in Toronto.

In the first round, Rybakina, seeded second, had a bye. Kasatkina, who celebrated her wedding with figure skater Natalia Zabiiako in mid-July, edged out China's Wang Xinyu (41) – 1:6, 7:6 (7:5), 7:5.

Before today's match, Elena led the head-to-head against the Tolyatti-born player 3:2. Interestingly, all matches were on hard courts. Starting the sixth match strongly and taking a 3:0 lead with a break, the Kazakhstani player, not without problems on her serve, closed out the set 6:3.

Rybakina also started the second set well, immediately making a break. But she failed to consolidate it. In the sixth game, the Kazakhstani lost her serve again, but in the seventh she broke back. Returning her game to "strobe light mode," the world No. 2 again alternated brilliant rallies with outright failures, unreturnable shots with errors, and aces with regular double faults. As a result, our tennis player lost a well-started set – 5:7.

And only in the deciding set did she prove her superiority with great difficulty. 6:3, 5:7, 6:4 in 2 hours 33 minutes. Aces – 15:3. Double faults – 16:6. Total points won – 119:12.

On July 4, our Elena the Beautiful lost in the third round of Wimbledon-2026 to Belgian Elise Mertens – 6:7 (4:7), 1:6. Taking an extraordinary leave, the Kazakhstani returned to the court after 31 days. And won.

In the round of 16 in Toronto, Rybakina will face Ann Li (31). The 26-year-old American tennis player, who has never met Elena before, won her opening match against Canadian Kayla Cross (138) – 7:6 (7:2), 6:3.

The Canadian Open tennis tournament dates back to 1881. That was when its first predecessor, a men's tournament, was held. And 11 years later, a women's tournament was added.

In even years, the women's tournament is held in Toronto, and the men's in Montreal. Since 2011, the competitions, part of the US Open Series, have been held simultaneously.

The current WTA-1000 tournament in Toronto is officially called the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. The prize fund is $7.4 million.

Over the years, the tournament has been won by Americans Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles, Serena Williams. Also German Steffi Graf, Swiss Martina Hingis, Belgians Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, and other stars.

The reigning champion, Victoria Mboko, is missing this year's home tournament due to injury. In the 2025 semifinal, the Canadian defeated Elena Rybakina 1:6, 7:5, 7:6 (7:4), and in the final beat Japan's Naomi Osaka – 2:6, 6:4, 6:1.