Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff moved into the semifinals of the National Bank Open when 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland withdrew from the Toronto tournament on Tuesday due to a hip injury.
“I am really sorry to not be able to compete tonight,” Bencic said in a statement. “This is amazing tournament, and I was really looking forward to playing in front of the great fans here in Toronto. I tried everything possible to be ready for tonight. Looking forward to being back in Toronto next time.”
The ailment bothered Bencic in the lead-up to the event, but she still won three matches in Toronto. In the fourth round, she eliminated 25th-seeded Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, who was coming off claiming her first WTA Tour title in Washington.
Gauff is through to her fifth individual semifinal of the year. She lost in the championship match at both Miami and Rome, and she fell in the semifinals at Wimbledon and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
On Wednesday, Gauff will oppose the winner of the Tuesday night match featuring second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and 11th-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan.
Gauff and Osaka have split six lifetime matchups, with Osaka winning the most recent meeting in the round of 16 at the U.S. Open last year.
The only matchup between Rybakina and Gauff came in the round of 32 at Toronto in 2022, when Gauff eked out a 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (3) victory.
–Field Level Media
