Naomi Osaka crashed out of the Canadian Open with a straight-sets defeat to Elise Mertens in the second round on Thursday.

The Belgian held her nerve for her second win over Osaka this year, beating her 6-3 6-4 in Toronto to set up a meeting with Liudmila Samsonova in the round of 16.

Osaka was caught out by making errors from the baseline and failed to gain any momentum as her preparation for the US Open took a hit with her early exit.

Despite the defeat, the former world number one remained upbeat about her performance as she looks to build on this result.

"I feel like I could have put a bit more on the court, a bit more from the baseline shots," Osaka said. "I got a bit caught up in the idea of being consistent and staying in the exchanges, I don't know.

"I'm happy with how I fought despite not winning, but I feel like I learned a lot.

"Unfortunately, I have always suffered a lot from my perfectionism, and I also tend to doubt myself a lot, but I think it's necessary to go through this process and have tough losses from which you can learn a lot about yourself.

"I know there will be many tough defeats like this one, but hopefully, I hope to be back in the top ten soon." 

Data Debrief: Fight fizzles out

Osaka struggled to gain a foothold in the match, losing her serve four times while only earning two breaks in return. 

She won just 37% of her second serve points (10/27) and failed to win more than two games in a row as Mertens edged out of her reach. 

The Rugby Championship is back.

All eyes will be on the Southern Hemisphere's finest throughout six matchdays in August and September, with the tournament returning to a full 12-game format after the 2023 edition was shortened due to the Rugby World Cup. 

South Africa broke New Zealand's hearts in the final of that tournament in France, and now they are hoping to end the All Blacks' four-year streak of victories in this competition.

The two favourites have been kept apart on the opening matchday, and both will be desperate to avoid any slip-ups on matchday one, as the Springboks go to Australia and New Zealand entertain Argentina.

Here, we run through the best Opta stats ahead of this weekend's action, picking out the players to watch in each contest.

AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA

The action gets under way at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane as Australia host the world champions, who are targeting a third straight Test win against the Wallabies following triumphs in the last two editions of the Rugby Championship.

They only won two of their previous eight versus Australia (two draws, four losses) and last enjoyed a longer winning run against them between September 2012 and September 2013 (three matches).

With the Wallabies starting a period of transition under new head coach Joe Schmidt, Rassie Erasmus' men go in as handy favourites to follow up their 24-8 victory in Australia two years ago. They last won back-to-back Tests in Australia in July 1993.

The Springboks have won 13 of their last 15 Tests, their only two defeats in that time coming against Ireland, while their 10.8 offloads per game are the most of any Tier One nation in Tests this year.

They always bring plenty of physicality, boasting the only three Tier One players to make 10 or more carries into contact while managing a dominant carry rate of 70% or better this year, namely Ben-Jason Dixon (83%), Lukhanyo Am (82%) and Makazole Mapimpi (79%). However, the latter duo are absent from their matchday one selection.

Erasmus will be warning his side against any complacency, however, given Australia have won their last four Test matches including all three to be played in 2024. 
The last time they started a calendar year with a longer winning run was in 2008 (five matches).

No Tier One team has conceded fewer than Australia's 11.3 turnovers per game in Tests this year, while only Argentina (15.33) have averaged more than South Africa (15.25). Keeping the mistakes to a minimum will be key if the Wallabies are to spring a surprise. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Australia – Jake Gordon

Gordon will form one half of Australia's run-on halves pairing, alongside Noah Lolesio. The 31-year-old has been a reliable performer at the start of this new era for Australian rugby, seeing six of his 21 kicks from hand retained by a team-mate in Test action this year.

His kick retention rate of 29% is the best of the 25 Tier One players to attempt at least 20 kicks in Test rugby in 2024.   

South Africa – RG Snyman 

Snyman will start at number five in place of the injured Franco Mostert, having proven a capable deputy so far this year.

He has made 10 offloads in just 182 Test rugby minutes in 2024, averaging 4.4 per 80 minutes. No other Tier One player has averaged three or more per match this year.

NEW ZEALAND v ARGENTINA 

New Zealand have not failed to win the Rugby Championship in 2019, and retaining their crown will be all the more important this year, following their dramatic 12-11 defeat to South Africa in the World Cup final almost 10 months ago.

Opening their 2024 campaign in Wellington, the All Blacks will be confident of maintaining their 100% record under new head coach Scott Robertson, who oversaw two wins over England and a 47-5 rout of Fiji last month.

New Zealand have an excellent record versus Argentina, winning 16 of their previous 17 Tests against them on home soil and averaging a winning margin of 34.8 points across those victories. The only defeat in that run came in the 2022 Rugby Championship, at the low point of Ian Foster's reign as head coach.

The All Blacks got their revenge by destroying Los Pumas 44-6 in the World Cup semi-finals last year, and they have now won their last three Tests against them, scoring 40 or more points in each of those meetings.

Before that run began, New Zealand had only tallied 40 or more points in three of their previous 22 meetings with Argentina.

Argentina, meanwhile, are yet to begin a Rugby Championship campaign with a win, losing their opening match in each of their previous 11 appearances. They did, however, beat the All Blacks in their first game of the 2020 Tri Nations.

Like their hosts, Argentina are entering a new era under Felipe Contepomi, who took the reigns from Michael Cheika after the World Cup. 

Los Pumas have scored an average of 6.3 tries per game in Test action this year, the most of any Tier One nation, while they also lead the way for dominant contact on carries, doing so 51 times per game on average. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

New Zealand – Ardie Savea

Savea will lead New Zealand out for the ninth time on Saturday, with a finger injury leaving regular skipper Scott Barrett sidelined.

Savea has been directly involved in six tries in his last six Test matches (four tries, two try assists) and scored a try when the All Blacks last faced Argentina in the Rugby Championship last August.

Argentina – Pablo Matera 

Matera is also a stand-in captain for this match, with Julian Montoya absent due to a rib injury.

He made a competition-high 44 carries in the 2023 edition of the Rugby Championship, while his four offloads were the joint-most of any player in that tournament. 

Mitch Haniger lined a bases-clearing double to right field just out of the reach of a diving Ryan Vilade to lift the Seattle Mariners to a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night.

The Mariners trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the ninth but Luke Raley led off with an infield single against Luke Holton. Randy Arozarena followed with a single off Will Vest to put runners at the corners. Vest struck out Cal Raleigh and Justin Turner before walking Jorge Polanco.

Haniger then hit a sinking liner to right that Vilade dove for but misjudged, and the ball rolled to the wall, easily scoring all three runners.

It was Haniger’s franchise-leading eighth walk-off hit.

Raley homered in the sixth for Seattle’s first run and the Mariners snapped a three-game skid to move into a virtual tie with Houston for the AL West lead.

Zack McKinstry knocked in two runs for the Tigers, who were denied a sweep.

Brewers pound Braves for sweep

Rookie Jackson Chourio hit two of the Brewers’ six home runs and William Contreras added three hits, including a homer, and three RBIs as Milwaukee routed the struggling Atlanta Braves, 16-7 to complete a three-game sweep.

Sal Frelick had four hits and Garrett Mitchell, Willy Adames and Jake Bauers also went deep for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who collected 20 hits and swept the Braves in Atlanta for the first time since 2016.

Chourio, at 20 years and 150 days, became the youngest player in Brewers history with a multi-homer game. Billy Jo Robidoux, at 21 years and 266 days, set the previous record in 1985. Chourio is also the youngest player in baseball with such a game since Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2019.

Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna homered for Atlanta, which allowed 36 hits in the past two games and dropped its fifth straight.

Charlie Morton was roughed up for eight runs on nine hits in just 2 2/3 innings.

Red-hot Padres sweep Pirates

Luis Arraez capped a three-run ninth inning with an RBI double and the San Diego Padres edged the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6, for a series sweep.

Pirates closer David Bednar was called on to protect a 5-4 lead in the ninth but gave up a leadoff single to Xander Bogaerts and walked Jackson Merrill.

After David Peralta struck out, Ha-Seong Kim walked to load the bases and the Padres tied it on a run-scoring grounder and went ahead when Oneil Cruz tossed a double play attempt past first. Arraez then tacked on what became the winning run with a double to right.

Manny Machado and Peralta homered as the Padres won their fifth straight and 14th in 16 tries to pull within 2 ½ games of the NL West-leading Dodgers.

Joey Bart homered and Cruz had three hits for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row.

Jannik Sinner began his defence of the Canadian Open title with a routine 6-2 6-4 victory over Borna Coric in Montreal.

Sinner, who won his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the 2023 event and has since won the Miami Open and his first grand slam at this year's Australian Open, was victorious within one hour and 37 minutes at the Omnium Banque National presente par Rogers.

The Italian, who missed the Paris Olympic Games with tonsillitis, showed no signs of rust on his first hard-court outing since his Miami triumph in March.

He stuck the ball sweetly from the off and only dropped four points behind his own first serve, with breaks in the third games of both sets putting him on course for victory.

He will face 15th seed Alejandro Tabilo or Lorenzo Sonego in the last 16 as he prepares for a potential title tilt at the US Open.

Speaking after his win, Sinner said: "I've been here for a little bit so I'm maybe a bit more used to the conditions, but still, I'm very happy about the performance.

"It was a very tough match. Even if you watched the score, it felt closer for sure. 

"I had to save a break point in the second set and if he makes that one it could potentially change the match. It was a very good mindset today and I'll try to keep going."

Data Debrief: Forty and counting for Sinner

Sinner's victory, coming at the age of 22 years and 357 days, made him the youngest player to achieve 40 successive wins against players ranked outside the ATP's top 20 since Rafael Nadal, who completed that feat aged 22 years and 285 days at Indian Wells in 2009.

Daniil Medvedev suffered a rare hard-court loss to an opponent outside the world's top 20 as Alejandro Davidovich Fokina sent him crashing out of the Canadian Open in the last 32.

Third seed Medvedev was beaten 6-4 1-6 6-2 by world number 43 Davidovich Fokina, the Spaniard coming through a one-hour, 56-minute contest in Montreal.

Davidovich Fokina, who reached the semi-finals of the tournament in 2023, will now face either Karen Khachanov or Matteo Arnaldi for a place in the quarter-finals.

It was only Medvedev's third hard-court defeat to an opponent ranked outside the ATP's top 20 since the start of 2023, with the others both coming against Sebastian Korda.

Medvedev was not the only player to be on the receiving end of an upset on Thursday, as Japan's Kei Nishikori beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4 for his first top-20 win since 2021.

However, things were far more comfortable for world number four Alexander Zverev, who crushed Jordan Thompson by a 6-1 6-1 scoreline to reach the third round.

Zverev won a huge 95% (18/19) of points behind his first serve, also slamming 20 winners past Thompson, who had previously led the duo's head-to-head series 2-1.

Coco Gauff continued her preparations for the defence of her US Open title by reaching the next round of the Canadian Open, beating China's Yafan Wang in straight sets.

Gauff needed just under an hour and a half to get the job done in Toronto, emerging a 6-4 6-4 victor to bounce back from her disappointment at the Paris Olympics. 

The world number two started shakily, saving three break points in the third game before converting a break of her own to lead 3-1 in the opening exchanges. 

Wang would fight back, however, winning the next three games on the bounce, but the American would rally to take the first set. 

It looked as though Gauff would cruise to victory after taking a three-game lead, but her Chinese opponent would show her powers of recovery once more, levelling the encounter soon after. 

The pair would trade blows for the remainder, with Gauff proving too strong for Yang late on, claiming the triumph with a love game on serve. 

Gauff will face Diana Shnaider for a place in the quarter-finals following the Russian's triumph over Magdalena Frech earlier in the day. 

Data Debrief: Gauff fights off spirited Wang

While Gauff was far from her best in Toronto, she adjusted well to the hard surface having competed on the clay courts of Roland-Garros at the Olympics. 

The American impressed on serve, registering six aces throughout the contest while also winning 65% of her first-serve points. 

Naomi Osaka said her straight-sets victory over Ons Jabeur in the Canadian Open demonstrates her growing confidence.

The four-time grand slam champion defeated world number 16 Jabeur 6-3 6-1 in her first-round match in Toronto.

Osaka’s victory follows her early exit in the Olympics where she lost in straight sets to Germany’s Angelique Kerber last month at Roland-Garros.

Away from the clay courts, the Japanese player felt the surface and her opponent brought out the best in her in Canada.

“Everyone knows I really love hard court,” said Osaka. “So I don’t know, I wasn’t really thinking too much.

"It felt very instinctual and honestly when I play the best players like Ons I tend to play better."

Now, Osaka believes she is beginning to build momentum again after her hiatus.

“I think if you’ve been following my journey a little, I go through mountains and hills. But now I’m feeling quite confident in myself as a person and a player and I think that showed a little,” she explained.

“Hopefully I can continue to play a lot more matches, but I think I just really love playing tennis and it’s been an honour to play such a great match in front of everyone.”

Coco Gauff is not expecting to win the Canadian Open as she manages the transition from clay to hard courts following the Olympics. 

Gauff fell short of a medal last month, losing to Donna Vekic in the singles while bowing out of the mixed and women's doubles with Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz. 

The world number two is one of the headline names at the WTA event in Toronto after a number of high-profile players, including world number one Iga Swiatek and Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, dropped out.

Her opening game of the tournament sees her face Yafan Wang, however, Gauff has tempered expectations as she prepares to defend her US Open crown at Flushing Meadows.

"I am not going into this expecting to win or anything. That would be great and it's the goal, but being realistic I was on clay three days ago," Gauff said. 

"I'm just trying to use this to see where I am and what I need to do to get ready for the US Open."

After her frustration in Paris, Gauff will have to wait another four years to win an Olympic medal, but has the comfort of the next Games being held on home soil in Los Angeles.  

And despite suffering disappointment in all three Olympic disciplines (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) this year at Roland-Garros, the American put her name forward to compete across the board again in 2028. 

"I would still do all three [events] again if that’s a possibility in '28," Gauff said. 

"I mean it's four years from now, I'll be 24, so I will still be on the healthier and younger side of things, and especially if the draw size for mixed is that small, I feel like that's one everyone wants to play.

"I had a great experience, from not being able to go to Tokyo to being able to go here, I just feel like LA, I'll hopefully be on the podium.

"I just feel like that's what my life consists of, having a disappointing result and then the next time is the best thing in the world."

Steve Kerr warned the United States must not "get lulled to sleep" by the fact they have already beaten Serbia twice recently.

The USA cruised past Brazil to reach the semi-finals of the Olympics, and Nikola Jokic's Serbia are next up.

Serbia have already faced the USA in the group stage, with the four-time reigning Olympic champions winning 110-84.

The USA also beat Serbia by 26 points in a warm-up match prior to the Games, but Kerr is taking nothing for granted ahead of Thursday's clash.

He said: "We can't get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice.

"We have to be prepared for their best effort. We've got to think about what they are going to do differently.

"Jokic, I guess he could play 40 minutes. What else do they have up their sleeve?"

It was a sentiment echoed by LeBron James.

"Every game is its own test. No matter what happened in the first two, it's about what goes down Thursday night," he said.

"So we need to lock in our film session, lock in during the day on Thursday, and then come out and be ready to go."

Jokic inspired Serbia to an Olympic-record comeback against Australia in the quarters.

How Serbia plan to manage Jokic's minutes is an intriguing question, but Joel Embiid is setting himself up to face the reigning NBA MVP for over 40 minutes.

"I guess we'll be ready for that," said Embiid.

"If that's what they think they have to do to try to beat us, then they won't hesitate to do that."

Iga Swiatek is sure of her place at the WTA Finals after it was announced the world number one had qualified for season's grand finale.

The season-ending tournament will take place in the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh for the first time, and will be held in November.

Swiatek, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics last week, has become the first player to secure her place at the Finals.

The 23-year-old has scooped five titles in 2024, including the French Open, which she has won four times.

“It's a great feeling to qualify for the WTA Finals for the fourth year in a row," said Swiatek, the reigning WTA Finals champion.

"I hope that the performances of the eight best players of the season will give a lot of joy to the fans all over the world."

Swiatek will become the youngest player to appear at the WTA Finals for four consecutive years since Victoria Azarenka (2009-2012).

After been knocked out early on in 2021, Swiatek reached the semi-finals in Fort Worth in 2022 before triumphing in Cancun last year.

Kyle Schwarber homered three times, doubled and matched a career high with seven RBIs as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 9-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in a matchup of division leaders on Wednesday night.

Schwarber led off the game against Gavin Stone with his first home run of the night and delivered a two-run double in the fifth to get the Phillies within 4-3. His three-run shot off Joe Kelly capped a five-run sixth and he took Michael Grove deep in the ninth for his 27th of the season.

The seven RBIs were the most by a Phillies player since Carlos Ruiz had that many against Atlanta in 2012.

Schwarber’s three-homer game was the second of his career, the other coming on June 20, 2021, for Washington against the Mets. He had seven RBIs one other time, on July 28, 2019, for the Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee.

Freddie Freeman drove in three runs for the Dodgers, who had their lead in the NL West sliced to three games over surging San Diego and Arizona. That is their smallest lead since April. 

Surging Diamondbacks sweep Guardians

Josh Bell homered twice and Eduardo Rodriguez won his season debut as the Arizona Diamondbacks remained red hot with a 5-3 win over the first-place Cleveland Guardians to complete a doubleheader sweep.

Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo and Corbin Carroll each hit two-run homers to give the Diamondbacks a 7-3 victory in the opener.

Randal Grichuk went deep in the second game for Arizona, which won for the 12th time in 14 games and has won seven consecutive series, reinforcing its hold on a NL wild-card spot.

Rodriguez signed with the Diamondbacks in December but had been sidelined with a left shoulder strain. He allowed three runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings and Justin Martinez loaded the bases in the ninth before striking out Lane Thomas for his second save of the series and his career.

Josh Naylor, Jose Ramirez and David Fry hit home runs in the doubleheader for Cleveland, which has lost a season-high five straight and had its AL Central lead cut to 3 ½ games over Minnesota.

The Guardians still own the best home record in baseball at 35-20.

Santander’s blasts power Orioles

Anthony Santander homered from both sides of the plate and Jackson Holliday added a two-run shot to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Eloy Jimenez added a two-run double for the Orioles, who rebounded after losing Tuesday’s series opener to tie the Yankees for first in the AL East.

Baltimore trailed 3-2 when Holliday went deep for the third straight game in the seventh inning to score Jimenez, who hit an infield single.

At 20 years, 274 days, Holliday is the youngest player in AL history to homer in three straight contests.

Santander hit a two-run shot off Bowden Francis in the first inning and belted a solo shot as a right-handed hitter in the eighth. The homers were his 33rd and 34th, a career high.

Santander leads the majors with 25 homers since the start of June.

Naomi Osaka put her Paris Olympics disappointment behind her as she eased to the next round of the Canadian Open in a straight-sets win over Ons Jabeur.

Osaka fell at the first hurdle to Angelique Kerber at Roland-Garros last month, but was back to her best as she emerged a 6-3 6-1 victor in Toronto. 

The four-time grand slam champion wasted no time in stamping her authority on proceedings, earning a two break points to take a 3-0 lead early on. 

And that would prove decisive, with the world number 95 seeing out the rest of her service games, closing out the first set with a love game. 

Jabeur would have no response to Osaka's stunning display, with the Japanese finding another pivotal break before winning the remaining three games to confirm the win. 

Osaka will face Elise Mertens in the round of 32 after the Belgian beat Katie Volynets in straight sets earlier in the day. 

Data Debrief: Osaka over Olympics disappointment

Having suffered disappointment in Paris, Osaka responded in emphatic style upon her return to the court and will want to continue that momentum moving forward. 

Osaka converted all three of the break points she had, winning all eight of her service games. 

It proved to be a difficult day at the office for Jabeur, who uncharacteristcally served seven double faults throughout the contest compared to Osaka's four.