World number one Aryna Sabalenka's US Open preparations suffered a blow on Saturday as she was defeated 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 by Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round of the Canadian Open in Toronto.

The 16th-seeded Alexandrova battled for nearly two and a half hours to secure her quarterfinal spot. Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and reigning US Open winner, fought back from a set down but could not contain Alexandrova's aggressive shot-making in the final set.

The Belarusian broke early in the opening set, but Alexandrova rallied to force a tiebreak, which she won. Sabalenka responded by seizing control in the second set with a break for a 4-3 lead and served out to level the match.

Alexandrova held her nerve in the decider as Sabalenka's error count rose. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, the top seed saved two match points, but a double fault on the third handed victory to the Russian.

"I just tried to play every single point as if it was the last one because with her, you don't get a lot of chances during the match," Alexandrova said in her on-court interview. "Honestly, I was trying not to think about the score or anything. Just hit the ball, and that's it. I'm super happy that I could win because after the second set, I thought the chance was already past me."

Alexandrova will face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who defeated American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semifinals.

Source: www.aljazeera.com