Ekaterina Alexandrova arrived in this quarterfinal still riding the high of the biggest win of her season, a stunning upset over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka earlier in this same tournament. For one set, it looked like the form had carried straight over.
Svitolina beat Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 to reach the Canadian Open semifinals. It’s a scoreline that tells the story of a match with almost nothing in common between its three parts.
Alexandrova won the first set playing some of the same fearless tennis that had toppled Sabalenka. Then Svitolina simply erased her.
Alexandrova Rides Her Sabalenka Form to a Deserved First Set
The opener played out as a genuine contest between two players landing big shots.
Svitolina held to open. Alexandrova leveled immediately. Svitolina held again through a long deuce battle to lead 2-1, but Alexandrova broke back to level at 2-2. From there, the match tilted decisively in the Russian’s favor. She broke again to lead 3-2, then held through another marathon deuce game to push it to 4-2. Svitolina pulled one back to 4-3, but it barely slowed Alexandrova down. She closed out the set with two more holds, taking it 6-3 without losing a single one of her own service games all set.
Alexandrova vs Svitolina – Set 1 Key Stats
| Statistic | Alexandrova | Svitolina |
|---|---|---|
| Dominance Ratio | 1.30 | 0.77 |
| Winners | 14 | 3 |
| Unforced Errors | 9 | 6 |
| Serve Rating | 311 | 227 |
| Aces | 3 | 0 |
| Double Faults | 1 | 3 |
| 1st Serve % | 75% (21/28) | 63% (15/24) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 71% (15/21) | 67% (10/15) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 63% (5/8) | 40% (4/10) |
| Break Points Saved | 100% (1/1) | 50% (2/4) |
| Service Games | 100% (4/4) | 60% (3/5) |
| Ace % | 10.7% | 0% |
| Double Fault % | 3.6% | 12.5% |
| Return Rating | 183 | 67 |
| 1st Return Points Won | 33% (5/15) | 29% (6/21) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 60% (6/10) | 38% (3/8) |
| Break Points Won | 50% (2/4) | 0% (0/1) |
| Return Games | 40% (2/5) | 0% (0/4) |
| Pressure Points | 63% (5/8) | 38% (3/8) |
| Service Points | 68% (19/28) | 58% (14/24) |
| Return Points | 42% (10/24) | 32% (9/28) |
| Total Points | 56% (29/52) | 44% (23/52) |
| Set 1 Duration | 0h30m | |
It was the same version of Alexandrova who’d beaten the best player in the world days earlier. She was aggressive, unbothered by the occasion, and landing her biggest shots exactly when she needed them. For one set, the Sabalenka form looked entirely real.
Svitolina Responds With a Complete Reversal
Whatever had carried Alexandrova through the first set vanished almost the moment the second one began.
Svitolina broke to open it, held, then broke again. She held again, and broke a third time to close it out 6-0. She never once faced a moment of danger on her own serve. Alexandrova didn’t win so much as a game, let alone a set point or a sniff of a comeback. The player who’d been dictating rallies twenty minutes earlier suddenly couldn’t find a way into a single one. Her first-serve percentage cratered, and her once-fearless shot selection turned tentative under the sudden pressure of Svitolina’s return.
Alexandrova vs Svitolina – Set 2 Key Stats
| Statistic | Alexandrova | Svitolina |
|---|---|---|
| Dominance Ratio | 0.50 | 2.02 |
| Winners | 5 | 7 |
| Unforced Errors | 7 | 3 |
| Serve Rating | 118 | 281 |
| Aces | 1 | 2 |
| Double Faults | 1 | 1 |
| 1st Serve % | 59% (10/17) | 50% (10/20) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 30% (3/10) | 90% (9/10) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 29% (2/7) | 40% (4/10) |
| Break Points Saved | 0% (0/3) | 100% (1/1) |
| Service Games | 0% (0/3) | 100% (3/3) |
| Ace % | 5.9% | 10% |
| Double Fault % | 5.9% | 5% |
| Return Rating | 70 | 341 |
| 1st Return Points Won | 10% (1/10) | 70% (7/10) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 60% (6/10) | 71% (5/7) |
| Break Points Won | 0% (0/1) | 100% (3/3) |
| Return Games | 0% (0/3) | 100% (3/3) |
| Pressure Points | 0% (0/5) | 100% (5/5) |
| Service Points | 29% (5/17) | 65% (13/20) |
| Return Points | 35% (7/20) | 71% (12/17) |
| Total Points | 32% (12/37) | 68% (25/37) |
| Set 2 Duration | 0h24m | |
It was as complete a response to losing a set as tennis produces. It’s the kind of reset that erases any momentum an opponent thought she’d built and starts the match over on entirely different terms. There was no sign, watching that set alone, that Alexandrova had won the first one just minutes earlier.
A Tense Decider That Svitolina Controls Late
The third set threatened to turn into another genuine fight, at least for a while.
Svitolina broke to open it and held to consolidate. Alexandrova broke back immediately and held to level at 2-2, some of the fight from the first set flickering back into her game. Svitolina marched on by breaking again to lead 4-1, then held to push it to 5-1. Alexandrova wasn’t finished, though. She won two of the next three games, closing to 5-3 and giving the match one last moment of tension.
It didn’t last. Svitolina broke Alexandrova’s serve one final time to close out the match 6-3. That ended the set on her terms after briefly letting it get interesting again.
Alexandrova vs Svitolina – Set 3 Key Stats
| Statistic | Alexandrova | Svitolina |
|---|---|---|
| Dominance Ratio | 0.74 | 1.35 |
| Winners | 3 | 5 |
| Unforced Errors | 9 | 6 |
| Serve Rating | 218 | 246 |
| Aces | 0 | 1 |
| Double Faults | 0 | 1 |
| 1st Serve % | 79% (22/28) | 42% (11/26) |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 36% (8/22) | 73% (8/11) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 63% (5/8) | 56% (9/16) |
| Break Points Saved | 25% (1/4) | 67% (2/3) |
| Service Games | 40% (2/5) | 75% (3/4) |
| Ace % | 0% | 3.8% |
| Double Fault % | 0% | 3.8% |
| Return Rating | 129 | 237 |
| 1st Return Points Won | 27% (3/11) | 64% (14/22) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 44% (7/16) | 38% (3/8) |
| Break Points Won | 33% (1/3) | 75% (3/4) |
| Return Games | 25% (1/4) | 60% (3/5) |
| Pressure Points | 38% (3/8) | 63% (5/8) |
| Service Points | 43% (12/28) | 58% (15/26) |
| Return Points | 42% (11/26) | 57% (16/28) |
| Total Points | 43% (23/54) | 57% (31/54) |
| Set 3 Duration | 0h40m | |
The wobble at 5-1 was the only moment in either of the last two sets where Alexandrova looked capable of finding her way back into real contention. Svitolina shut it down before it could grow into anything more serious.
The Numbers Show Two Very Different Levels
Svitolina’s dominance ratio of 1.27 to Alexandrova’s 0.79 reflects a match that swung heavily her way once the opening set was gone. The return numbers back it up in stark terms.
Svitolina won 75 percent of the pressure points that came up, 11 of 16, against just 5 for Alexandrova. On break points specifically, Svitolina converted 6 of 8 chances to Alexandrova’s 3 of 8. That gap explains most of the difference between a match Alexandrova led after one set and a match she lost in three.
Alexandrova’s 22 winners actually topped Svitolina’s 15, but she also finished with 25 unforced errors to Svitolina’s 15.
Another Strong Step in a Strong Ukrainian Season
For Svitolina, this is another semifinal at a tournament that’s underlined just how good her 2026 has been.
She didn’t get here comfortably. Her opponent was playing with the same freedom that had already claimed one top-ranked scalp this week.
Svitolina had to survive that first set before anything else.
A third-set wobble of her own making followed the emphatic reset of set two, and she had to solve that too.
Neither moment derailed her.
Alexandrova leaves Toronto with the Sabalenka win still the headline of her run, and a reminder that catching fire for one match and sustaining it for one more are two very different things.