Montréal | Osaka, Siegemund and Bouchard amongst those to advance on Day 2

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan defeated Canadian qualifier Ariana Arseneault, 6-4 6-2, in an hour and 16 minutes on Monday at the WTA 1000 Omnium Banque Nationale presente par Rogers in Montréal, after announcing the end of her and Patrick Mouratoglou’s collaboration on Sunday, following her exit from the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open last week.

If I win this tournament, I will not retire! It was electric out there. I had so much fun. I’m so proud of how I competed, and stayed focused throughout the whole match, and fought. It was a physical battle, a mental battle, and it just felt amazing to play in Montréal in front of everyone. Eugenie Bouchard

“Merci Patrick. It was such a great experience learning from you. Wishing you nothing but the best. You are one of the coolest people I’ve ever met and I’m sure I’ll see you around,” Osaka wrote on Instagram.

Mouratoglou responded: “After 10 months of collaboration, we have decided to part ways professionally. I am grateful for the trust, the journey and what we have built together. I will always root for you and wish you nothing but the best.”

Osaka, a former World No 1 who is currently ranked 49, has roped in Iga Swiatek’s ex-coach Tomasz Wiktorowski on a trial basis, and, according to reports, he is already flying in to Montréal.

Wiktorowski, who hails from Poland, first came to prominence as a coach during his collaboration with compatriot Agnieszka Radwanska, which lasted from 2011 to 2018.

Radwanska reached a career-high singles ranking of World No 2 on the WTA Tour, made it to the 2012 Wimbledon final, and also won the 2015 edition of the prestigious WTA Finals under Wiktorowski’s tutelage.

In 2021, Wiktorowski began coaching fellow Pole Iga Swiatek, and went on to guide her to 5 Grand Slam titles. Swiatek replaced the 44-year-old with Wim Fissette last year.

Playing her opener in Montréal against Arseneault, ranked 515, who was making her Hologic WTA Tour main-draw debut after defeating Destanee Aiava to qualify for the main draw, Osaka found herself tested by the 23-year-old Canadian, having to come back from a break down to pull back on serve at 4-4, but the Japanese’s rally groundstrokes proved too tough down the stretch, as she won the next 2 games to lead by a set.

The second went more smoothly for Osaka, as she improved to 11-1 this year against players ranked outside the Top 100, her only loss coming to Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open.

Osaka will take on No 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova in the 2nd-round. They have split their 4 previous meetings, but the Japanese has won both of their hard-court encounters.

Laura Siegemund needed over 3 hours to find her way past Tatjana Maria in a thrilling battle between two 37-year olds on Monday

In a lengthy 1st-round battle between two players from Germany, Laura Siegemund came out on top over Tatjana Maria, 7-5 6-7(6) 7-6(2), despite Maria firing 8 aces to her single 1, and registering 7 double-faults to Maria’s 3 during their nearly 3-and-a-half-hour contest of thrilling tennis.

Both are 37-years old, the oldest players in the WTA Top 100, as well as the Top 2 Germans in the world, with Maria leading the way ranked 41, and Siegemund close behind at 54.

Maria captured her first WTA 500 title at Queen’s, while Siegemund followed with a run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and they reminded everyone why they are two of the WTA’s fittest, and most entertaining, competitors on tour.

In a match that spanned 3 hours and 26 minutes, Siegemund outlasted Maria in one of the most gripping battles of the season, leading 5-3 in the second set, and holding 4 match points before Maria forced a decider.

It was the third-longest tour-level match of 2025, packed with stunning reflexes, old-school creativity and delicate touch.

“Tatjana and me, we know each other since we were 7, 8 years old,” Siegemund said in her on-court interview. “We played, I don’t know, 20 times against each other as juniors, and it was exactly this kind of match every single time. Someone would win 7-6 in the third after three-and-a-half hours. Sometimes it would be me, and sometimes it would be her.

“I just have to say, we are here! It makes me almost cry, because we are here after almost 30 years. We are both 37 and we are still here!”

Siegemund’s reward is a rematch against No 6 seed Madison Keys, whom she defeated 6-3 6-3 in the Wimbledon 3rd-round just over 3 weeks ago, and she leads the head-to-head against the Australian Open champion, 2-1.

Eugénie Bouchard beat Emiliana Arango in 3 sets on Monday night, postponing her pending retirement from the tour

On Monday night, hometown hero Eugenie Bouchard beat Colombia’s Emiliana Arango, 6-4 2-6 6-2, in a 1st-round win that has delayed the former World No 5’s retirement from the tour.

Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist, announced earlier this month she would walk away from the sport after this tournament, but added a condition to that plan in the wake of her thrilling win in front of a packed crowd.

“If I win this tournament, I will not retire!” she said in her on-court interview.

Bouchard last played a tour-level main draw match in 2023, and currently does not have a ranking, but that didn’t stop her from breaking the World No 82 six times in 2 hours and 14 minutes on court.

Playing in only her second singles match of the year, Bouchard blasted a forehand winner to take the first set but Arango turned the tables in the second amid a cascade of unforced errors from her Canadian opponent.

Bouchard, though, broke for a 3-1 lead in the decider, and hammered a swinging volley to extend the advantage to 4-1.

The 31-year-old wild-card put her hands on her head, and then her heart, after securing the victory to set up a 2nd-round meeting with 17th seed Bencic from Switzerland.

On the eve of the tournament, Bouchard had said she hoped that her final tournament would be a ‘like a celebration, not a funeral’, and she certainly got that vibe in prime time on Day 2 of the main draw at the WTA 1000 event, especially as she soared to victory with 3 of her service breaks in the deciding set.

“It was electric out there. I had so much fun. I’m so proud of how I competed, and stayed focused throughout the whole match, and fought,” Bouchard said afterwards. “It was a physical battle, a mental battle, and it just felt amazing to play in Montréal in front of everyone.

“I didn’t know what to expect. You know, I woke up this morning just telling myself, Look, I can’t control the result. I just want to have a good attitude, have good fight, and try feel good with my shots, feel good with my game.

“No matter what happens, I wanted to walk off the court having enjoyed that kind of gritty battle, and it definitely turned into one of those battles. I enjoyed every second of it. I guess not really what I expected. I didn’t know what to expect, but a happy result.”

As a bonus, Bouchard’s victory was the 300th match win of her career, and although she hopes it won’t be the last one, she has never beaten Bencic in their 3 prior matches.

“She’s obviously a great player. It’s funny, I played here in Toronto ten years ago, and then she ended up winning the tournament,” Bouchard said. “So, yeah, I know it will be a crazy tough match.

“I’ll probably do stuff in practice tomorrow, kind of thinking about playing against her. She loves to take it early, change direction. So I’ve had some battles against her, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova lost the first set to 20-year-old wild-card Kayla Cross but in 3 sets in just under 2 hours at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open at IGA Stadium on Monday

Elsewhere, Russian qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova lost the first set to 20-year-old Canadian wild-card Kayla Cross before finding her groove, and finishing out the last two sets to win 4-6 6-3 6-2 in just under 2 hours; while Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva also needed 3 sets to defeat China’s Wang Yafan, 7-6 (6) 6-4 6-4.

Prague champion Marie Bouzkova extended her winning streak to 6 matches with a straight-sets win over Moyuka Uchijima, 6-2 7-6(4); while, in a match that ended after midnight local time, former World No 3 Maria Sakkari battled past Canadian hope Carson Branstine, 6-2 3-6 7-5; and, earlier in the day, Lucia Bronzetti overturned a 6-4, 4-1 deficit to defeat wild-card Elizabeth Mandlik, 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2.

Also through in 3 sets were Anastasia Sevastova, a 6-3 3-6 6-4 winner over Alja Tomljanovic, and qualifier Antonia Rizic, who saw off Anastasia Potatpova, 2-6 7-5 6-0.