World number three Iga Swiatek suffered a shock exit from the National Bank Open in Montreal, falling to Denmark’s Clara Tauson in straight sets.

Tauson, seeking revenge for her recent Wimbledon defeat against the Polish star, secured a 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory to book her place in the quarter-finals, where she will face Madison Keys.

The 21-year-old Dane dominated the first-set tiebreak, conceding just a single point—courtesy of a double fault—after a tightly contested opener in which she had held leads of 3-1 and 4-2. Though she failed to serve out the set at 5-4, Tauson regrouped to take control in the breaker.

In the second set, Tauson once again surged ahead early. Swiatek briefly mounted a comeback, breaking back to reduce the deficit to 4-3, but she was unable to hold her next service game. Tauson capitalised, winning eight of the last 11 points to close out the match.

“I just felt like after I won the first set that I needed to continue, because I know she’s never going to give up,” Tauson said after the match. “Getting a win against her after losing at Wimbledon and a few weeks ago is obviously nice. I felt like I was playing good tennis at Wimbledon, and if I could keep that going, I thought I had a shot.”

Elsewhere, sixth seed Madison Keys staged a dramatic comeback to defeat 11th seed Karolina Muchova, saving two match points while serving at 4-5 in the second set. Keys went on to claim the final three games of the match, securing her eighth quarter-final appearance of the season and her second in Montreal. Her last quarter-final run in Canada came in 2016, when she advanced to the final.

Source: Qatar Tribune 

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