Naomi Osaka will start her Toronto WTA 1000 tournament on August 8 against Hungary's Panna Udvardy, aiming to improve on her historic performances at the event [1, 2, 3]. The Canadian WTA 1000 alternates yearly between Montreal and Toronto, with Osaka having finished runner-up to Victoria Mboko in Montreal last year but only reaching the quarter-finals in Toronto in 2019 as her best result [1, 2, 3].
Osaka, currently seeded 11th, recently reached the semifinals on the hard courts in Washington, losing to eventual champion Alexandra Eala. "I did better than last year in DC, so I’m just hoping to keep the ball rolling," Osaka said. She added, "I haven’t historically played super, super well here, so I’m just hoping to change that this year" [1].
Since returning from an extended maternity leave in 2023, Osaka has yet to regain her peak form but has shown progress with a 2025 US Open semifinal run and career-best performances at the 2026 French Open last 16 and Wimbledon quarter-final [1, 2, 3]. "I can try to recall Montreal, but I would like to kind of treat the cities separately," Osaka said ahead of the Canadian tournament [2].
Osaka’s Toronto draw places her in the same quarter as second seed Elena Rybakina, with a potential fourth-round meeting against fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva, who lost in the second round at Wimbledon and opens against former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. Pliskova defeated Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova 6-4, 6-4 on August 3 at the event [1, 2, 3].
Osaka acknowledged her recent loss helped clarify her approach: "I lost my last match, but it’s helped me figure out what I want to do exactly, or how I want to take my tennis." She hopes to use the Toronto event as a confidence boost ahead of the US Open, saying, "I would just hope to gain a lot of confidence leading into New York" [1].
The 2026 US Open is set to begin on August 31, making Toronto a critical warm-up event for Osaka and other top players [1, 2, 3].
