Canadians Kayla Cross, Ariana Arseneault exit in NBO first round

By Canadian Press on July 28, 2025.

MONTREAL — Canada’s Kayla Cross and Ariana Arseneault are out of the National Bank Open after the first round.

Cross let a one-set lead slip away in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia on Monday afternoon.

The 20-year-old from London, Ont., who’s ranked 151st in the world, fell to the 62nd-ranked Rakhimova in one hour 55 minutes on the hard court at IGA Stadium. It was their first career meeting on the WTA Tour.

Rakhimova will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, the 10th seed, in the second round. The top 32 seeds received a first-round bye at the WTA 1000 tournament.

Later in the afternoon, Arseneault of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 6-4, 6-2 to Japan’s Naomi Osaka.

Osaka, a former world No. 1, meets Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the next round.

In the evening, local favourite Eugenie Bouchard will begin her final run in professional tennis against Colombia’s Emiliana Arango. The 31-year-old Bouchard, a former world No. 5, recently announced she would retire after her hometown event.

Carson Branstine, who grew up in California but represents Canada through family ties in Toronto, takes on Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the final match of the night.

Toronto’s Victoria Mboko, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino advanced to the second round with wins Sunday.

Andreescu’s status for the remainder of the tournament is unclear after hurting her left ankle on match point Sunday night against Czechia’s Barbora Krejcikova.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025.

The Canadian Press