In a remarkable turnaround on Friday at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Anastasija Sevastova rallied from an early deficit to defeat two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the tournament's third round. The Latvian player, ranked 396th entering the match, saved nine out of 13 break points and maintained a strong first-serve rate of 71 percent to overcome the third seed.

"Somehow, I was down 2-0 in the second set and started to play better and better," Sevastova said. "Third set, I played really good. Just trying to stay on the court as long as possible."

Pegula seemed in command early, winning eight of the initial 11 games, but Sevastova shifted momentum by capturing the next four games, igniting her comeback. After leveling the match by taking the second set, Sevastova stumbled in the opening game of the third set but then dominated the remainder of the final set.

Reflecting on her loss, Pegula admitted, "It was a strange match for me. I felt like I was in complete control, and then I played a couple of terrible games."

Sevastova’s career had previously peaked at world No. 11 in 2018 before injuries slowed her progress. That year, she reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open, falling to eventual runner-up Serena Williams. Sevastova will now face Naomi Osaka, the 2018 U.S. Open champion and former world No. 1. Osaka secured her spot in the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, converting six of nine break points and delivering five aces.

Other notable results saw No. 6 seed Madison Keys recover from a first-set loss to defeat Caty McNally 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Switzerland’s No. 16 seed Clara Tauson easily prevailed 6-3, 6-0 against Yuliia Starodubtseva.

The night session featured dominant displays from several top seeds: No. 2 Iga Swiatek defeated Eva Lys 6-2, 6-2; No. 5 Amanda Anisimova beat Emma Raducanu 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour; and No. 10 Elina Svitolina dispatched Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-1 in under an hour.

In the only three-set encounter of the night, Czech No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova overcame Swiss No. 17 seed Belinda Bencic 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3, saving 10 out of 11 break points during her comeback victory.