6 shocking results from Day 3 at Canadian Open ft. Daniil Medvedev, Leylah Fernandez
The 2024 Canadian Open saw many major upsets on its third day. Several seeded stars like Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Leylah Fernandez were ousted from the tournament on August 8.
Defending men's champion Jannik Sinner kicked off his title defense with a comfortable win over Borna Coric. Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed in women's singles, also made light work of her second-round opponent, Yue Yuan. But not every big-name player survived the action-packed day, resulting in many surprising results.
With that said, let's take a look at the six most shocking results from Day 3 of the 2024 Canadian Open:
#6. Ugo Humbert
French No. 1 Ugo Humbert was among many seeded players in the men's singles draw who bowed out of the 2024 Canadian Open on Day 3. The No. 12 seed bettered compatriot Arthur Fils in the first round to face Nuno Borges in the second round. He made a confident start to the contest by breaking the Portuguese twice and taking a one-set lead.
However, Borges showed incredible resilience in going toe-to-toe in the next two sets. He edged past Humbert in two tiebreakers to win the match 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), and reach the third round at a Masters-1000 tournament for just the second time in his career.
#5. Daria Kasatkina
Daria Kasatkina was the fifth seed at the 2024 Canadian Open and was given a first-round bye. She faced Amanda Anisimova in the second round on August 8. Anisimova, ranked World No. 132, entered the main draw via protected ranking and defeated Caroline Dolehide in her opening-round match.
The second-round contest was filled with breaks, as Kasatkina and Anisimova got broken a combined seven times. But the latter was a slightly better performer and took the first set. Animisiova was much better than in the second set and swept aside Kasatkina's challenge to win the match 6-4, 6-3.
#4. Leylah Fernandez
Leylah Fernandez was one of only two Canadians to win a match at the 2024 Canadian Open as she defeated Nao Hibino in three sets in the first round. The 21-year-old faced Ashlyn Krueger in the second round on August 8. A solitary break of Fernandez's serve was enough for the American to take the first set.
Krueger maintained her level in the second set and broke the former US Open finalist twice to wrap up an impressive 6-4, 6-2 win and reach the third round at the tournament in her maiden campaign in Toronto.
Fernandez is still active at the 2024 Canadian Open, as he is playing doubles with her sister Bianca, with the duo winning their first couple of matches.
#3. Tommy Paul
2023 semifinalist Tommy Paul came to Montreal after quarterfinal finishes at the Wimbledon Championships and Paris Olympics. He was seeded 10th at the 2024 Canadian Open and defending 400 points. The American was off to a great start with a straight-sets victory against Luciano Darderi.
Paul came up against compatriot Brandon Nakashima in the second round. Nakashima mustered the one-set advantage by breaking Paul twice. The scoreline was leveled in the second set after a tiebreaker. Nakashima picked up the pace in the deciding set to break Paul thrice and won the match 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1.
#2. Daniil Medvedev
2021 Canadian Open champion Daniil Medvedev received a first-round bye and faced Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round. The third-seeded Russian was broken right at the end of the first set to hand his Spanish opponent the advantage. Medvedev stepped up his level to win five games on the trot and level the scoreline in the second set.
Davidovich Fokina raised his level too, and pierced the Russian's service game twice in the third set to oust him from the tournament, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. This was Davidovich Fokina's third top 5 win in his career and perhaps the most important one as he is defending semifinalist points at the 2024 Canadian Open.
#1. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered the biggest upset of the 2024 Canadian Open so far. The Greek was given a first-round bye and faced 2016 finalist Kei Nishikori in the second round. Nishikori, with already an impressive win over Alex Michelsen, found his prime once again while facing Tsitsipas and defeated the eighth seed 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round of a Masters-1000 tournament for the first time since 2021.
Nishikori, currently ranked World No. 576, also became the lowest-ranked player ever to reach the third round of a 1000-level competition, underscoring the magnitude of Tsitsipas' upset loss.