TWO in-form Americans have caused a couple of upsets at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Canada as three Top 10 seeds were knocked out in the second round of the tournament. Unseeded duo Danielle Collins – coming off back-to-back titles in the lead-up to the event – and Jessica Pegula claimed wins over sixth seed Simona Halep and 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to advance through to the Round of 16.

Collins had a real fight on her hands having played in lower tournaments the last fortnight, but earned her three-set win over the highly touted Halep, needing two hours and 55 minutes to defeat the Romanian, 2-6 6-4 6-4 and book her spot in the third round. She was joined by Pegula who came back from a shocking first set to take care of Pavlyuchenkova, 1-6 6-3 6-2 in an hour and 51 minutes.

It was a great day overall for the Americans, with highest seed Coco Gauff posting a very quick win in 22 minutes after Russian Anastasia Potapova unfortunately had to retire just five games into the match. Qualifier Amanda Anisimova booked her spot in the Round of 16 with a straight sets victory over Frenchwoman and fellow qualifier Oceane Dodin, 6-3 6-3. The only American to fall in the Round of 16 was Sloane Stephens, with the former US Open winner and wildcard pushing top seed Aryna Sabalenka all the way before the Belarusian stood up to win in two hours and 25 minutes, 7-6 4-6 6-4.

“It was a tough match and she played so well. She pushed me like crazy in this match and I don’t know actually how I won this won this one,” Sabalenka said post-match.

“I’m really happy with this win. I was already in the locker room thinking what was going to happen next – doubles here, planning for the next weeks. I don’t know if that’s why I cooled down, and I was just playing and didn’t think about anything else.”

The only other Top 10 seed to join Sabalenka in the Round of 16 from the day’s action was fourth seed Karolina Pliskova, and even her victory was far from easy. She had to fight out a third set tiebreaker against Croatian Donna Vekic, before saluting in two hours and 35 minutes, 4-6 6-3 7-6. Eleventh seed Greek talent Maria Sakkari won through courtesy of another hard-fought three-set contest 6-4 5-7 6-4, over Russian Veronika Kudermetova.

Ukrainian third seed Elina Svitolina was the highest ranked casualty of the day, going down to Great Britain’s Johanna Konta. After losing the first set, Konta held her nerve to bounce back and win the next two and post the 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory in two hours and 11 minutes.

“That was definitely not an easy match. I’ve never beaten her in my career, so for me personally, this was a massive win,” Konta said. “She’s probably the toughest player for me on tour so I’m quite pleased with myself.”

Joining Konta in the third round were unseeded duo Italian Camila Giorgi and Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo. Meanwhile Canadian wildcard Rebecca Marino upset Spaniard Paula Badosa in front of home fans, coming back from a bad first set to win 1-6 7-5 6-4. In the final match of the day, 13th seed Tunisian Ons Jabeur came from a set and a break down against Silicon Valley Classic finalist, Russian Daria Kasatkina to post a 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory in two hours and eight minutes to survive the clash and book her spot in the third round.

NATIONAL BANK OPEN ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[1] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) defeated [WC] Sloane Stephens (USA) 7-6 4-6 6-4
Johanna Konta (GBR) defeated [3] Elina Svitolina (UKR) 3-6 6-3 6-2
[4] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) defeated Donna Vekic (CRO) 4-6 6-3 7-6
Danielle Collins (USA) defeated [6] Simona Halep (ROU) 2-6 6-4 6-4
Jessica Pegula (USA) defeated [10] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 1-6 6-3 6-2
[11] Maria Sakkari (GRE) defeated Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 6-4 5-7 6-4
[13] Ons Jabeur (TUN) vs. Daria Kasatkina (RUS)
[15] Coco Gauff (USA) defeated [Q] Anastasia Potapova (RUS) 5-0 RET
Camila Giorgi (ITA) defeated Nadia Podoroska (ARG) 6-2 6-4
[WC] Rebecca Marino (CAN) defeated Paula Badosa (ESP) 1-6 7-5 6-4
Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) defeated Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) 6-4 6-3
[Q] Amanda Anisimova (USA) defeated [Q] Oceane Dodin (FRA) 6-3 6-3

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