Mboko wins all-Canadian quarter as Navarro scores comeback in Strasbourg

World No. 9 Victoria Mboko is through to her third semifinal of 2026. After runs to the final in Adelaide and Doha, the top seed at the Internationaux de Strasbourg edged out No. 7 seed Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Canadian quarterfinal.

Strasbourg: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Mboko improves to 15-1 vs. players outside the top 20 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, and will face Jaqueline Cristian on Friday. She's now 2-0 vs. Fernandez, winning the first meeting in three sets at the Hong Kong semis last season. Fernandez has now bowed out of the quarterfinals for the third time in 2026 clay-court swing following Stuttgart and Madrid.

"I think today was very difficult, it's never easy to play Leylah," Mboko said on court. "I just had to play some incredible shots and just hit through her, but I'm happy to have won today."

Right out of the gate, initially, Mboko seemed well on her way. Following a quick service hold by Fernandez in the opening game, Mboko won five straight games, fueled by a plethora of winners particularly on her backhand. The power had overwhelmed Fernandez in the beginning as she couldn't find a recipe for Mboko initially. 

In Mboko's opening service game, the final two points were backhand winners, one relatively down the line and the other cross court. In the first set alone, Mboko amassed 13 winners and a 5-1, triple set point and double break lead.

That's when it started to trend downwards for Mboko and upwards for Fernandez, who saved a total of six set points and crawled back to cut the deficit to 5-4. However, the 5-1 cushion paid dividends as Mboko held in the final game on her seventh set point.

Double faults were Fernandez' Achilles heel -- she had eight on Thursday -- especially in the early part of the second set. She had back to back double faults to give Mboko a break lead, and two games later, Fernandez had another in a game were Mboko broke at love for a 3-0 lead. 

Though Fernandez got one break back, the compatriots traded holds the rest of the way, and it was only fitting Mboko won match point with a beautiful backhand winner down the line. 

"It's never been easy to move on clay, and that's something I've always been improving on so I'm happy to have done that well today," Mboko added.

Navarro scores clutch comeback to defeat Zhang

A few times Thursday, Emma Navarro was two points away from losing her quarterfinal match vs. Zhang Shuai. After Navarro dropped the first set, Zhang led 5-4 in the second set with a chance to serve for the match, but Navarro got the break back and then the second set went to a tiebreak, which Navarro won 7-5.

In the decider, Navarro dominated, breaking Zhang three times in the eventual 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 win to reach her first Strasbourg semifinal. She'll face Ann Li in her first semifinal since winning Merida in 2025.

Cristian takes down Kasatkina in three

In a three-set thriller, Romania's Jaqueline Cristian edged out Australia's Daria Kasatkina 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 to move into her first-ever WTA 500 semifinal in Strasbourg. The win represents another stellar tournament for Cristian, who is in her main draw debut at the tournament. 

Cristian has now won both matchups vs. Kasatkina this season, with the first coming in Adelaide, and she's now into her first semifinal since Osaka during last year's Asian swing. Friday's semifinal will be the first meeting between Cristian and Mboko.

Li reaches first semifinal on clay

Li was one point away from having to win her match in three sets against Marie Bouzkova, who has already won a clay-court title this season in Bogota. Li faced a 5-3 second set deficit and saved a set point vs. the Czech to knock off the No. 8 seed Bouzkova 6-3, 7-5 in straight sets.

The win secures Li's first win over Bouzkova in four tries, and she now advances to her first WTA Tour semifinal since winning Guangzhou at the end of last season. Friday's semifinal vs. Navarro will be her first on clay.