Aryna Sabalenka, the current world No. 1 in women's tennis, started her campaign at the Toronto WTA 1000 event on August 4 as she aims to regain momentum heading into the US Open later this month [1, 2]. Sabalenka, 28, has had a mixed 2026 Grand Slam season, losing the Australian Open final in January, exiting at the French Open quarter-finals in June, and bowing out in the Wimbledon round of 16 in July [1, 3, 4, 2].
Following Wimbledon, Sabalenka took a rest on the Greek island of Mykonos to recover physically and mentally, calling the break "much-needed" and saying she was eager to resume preparation for the summer hard court season [3]. She said, "I have huge hopes. I wouldn’t say that clay and grass... was that bad. I was trying a couple things, things didn’t go the way I expected. And now we’re kind of back to the basics, and I really hope it’s going to work out well on the hard court again" [1].
Sabalenka has been dominant on hard courts in 2026, winning 23 of 24 matches with her only loss a January final defeat to Elena Rybakina at the Australian Open [3, 5, 6, 7]. Despite this strong record, she has never passed the semi-finals at the Canadian Open, which rotates between Montreal and Toronto annually [3, 5, 6, 7].
Her position as world No. 1 is under threat. If Sabalenka fails to reach the round of 16 in Toronto, Rybakina, who won the Australian Open, could overtake her ranking by winning the Toronto title [3, 5, 6, 7]. The tournament features strong competitors including Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, Linda Noskova, and Elena Rybakina [3, 5, 6, 7]. Swiatek, seeded seventh, also hopes to regroup after Wimbledon early exit, while Noskova, the sixth seed and a recent Wimbledon champion, could meet Alexandra Eala in round three [3, 5, 6, 7].
Sabalenka also expressed support for the WTA's updated eligibility policy mandating a one-time gene test to verify biological gender for fairness on the tour. "I think it’s really important to keep the fairness in our tour. It’s obviously, biologically, the men are way stronger than women, so I feel like it would be not really fair for the woman to compete against (a) biological man," she said [1].
Sabalenka plans to play mixed doubles with Novak Djokovic at the US Open the week before singles begin on August 30, calling the experience "fun and intense" [1, 4, 2]. The US Open singles tournament will be a key test of her form after the Toronto event [1, 4, 2].
Absent from Toronto are Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova, recovering from minor surgery, and reigning Canadian Open champion Victoria Mboko, sidelined by a knee injury [5, 6, 7].
Sabalenka's next matches in Toronto will determine if she can maintain the No. 1 ranking and build confidence ahead of the US Open. Her opening match on August 4 began the critical stretch of hard court play that looks to define her 2026 season.
