Upsets continue at National Bank Open as Tauson, Osaka reach semifinals

MONTREAL — Clara Tauson is making one of the best runs of her career with a heavy heart.

After advancing to the semifinals of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers with a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 6 seed Madison Keys on Tuesday, an emotional Tauson revealed that her grandfather, Peter, died Sunday. She first mentioned the news in an on-court interview played for in-stadium fans.

“Two days ago my grandfather unfortunately passed away, so I really wanted to win for him today,” Tauson said as tears streamed down her face, drawing a huge round of applause from the fans at IGA Stadium.

“I’m definitely not done. I was told (he died) the day after I beat Iga (Swiatek, in a Sunday night match). I really wanted to come out here and show my best tennis for him. Hopefully he’s watching.”

Talking to reporters about an hour after the match, Tauson said her grandfather coached her growing up and regularly drove her to practices.

“It was tough news yesterday morning when I woke up. But I think it’s for the better. He was not feeling great for a while,” she said.

“I think I just pushed it aside until the match was done. And then obviously when it’s done, you can let the emotions go a little. I tried the past 48 hours to just focus on the match. Now, I got the win and I’m going to try to push it away again and then be ready (for the semifinals Wednesday against Japan's Naomi Osaka).”

Tauson, seeded 16th, now has successive wins over top-10 opponents and 2025 Grand Slam champions.

Swiatek won Wimbledon, while Keys captured the Australian Open.

“It obviously gives confidence but for me it’s more about being consistent,” Tauson said. “Try to win these matches (against top-10 players) and when I’m winning them, great. If I don’t, I know I’ll get a lot of experience from them.”

Tauson, 22, hasn’t lost a set in four matches here and is now just two wins away from her first career WTA Tour 1000 title.

“She played incredibly well,” Keys said of Tauson. “She served really well and it was kind of one of those things where I kept trying different things and she was just beating me.”

The result continued a string of upsets at the NBO. None of the top eight seeds advanced to the semifinals.

Osaka also knocked off a higher-ranked player, beating No. 10 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who took a leave from the tour in 2023 to become a mother, was competing in her first WTA 1000 or Grand Slam quarterfinal in 19 months.

"I'm really happy. I'm also really excited," Osaka said.

"... Obviously after Wimbledon (where she lost in the third round), I was really disappointed. I just kind of let go of my expectations and now we're here."

Currently ranked 49th, Osaka is projected to rise into the top 30 after this tournament.

It will be the second career meeting between Osaka and Tauson. They clashed in the Auckland final early this year, with Osaka winning the first set 6-4 before she was forced to retire with an abdominal injury.

The other semifinal Wednesday pits upstart Canadian Victoria Mboko against No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. It's also the second meeting between the two, with Rybakina prevailing in straight sets in the round of 16 two weeks ago in Washington.

The winner of Thursday’s final will earn $752,275.

Meanwhile, organizers have pushed up the doubles final to Wednesday, presumably to give players more time to get to Cincinnati ahead of the next WTA 1000 tournament later this week. The American pair of Coco Gauff and McCartney Kessler will face the third-seeded team of Shuai Zhang of China and Taylor Townsend of the U.S.

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