Anisimova, Pegula, Kostyuk rise to the occasion in rainy Toronto

Amanda Anisimova is hoping a return to one of her favorite stops on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz can provide the spark she needs for a strong second half of the season. A gritty comeback win over Nikola Bartunkova on Thursday at the National Bank Open may be the first sign of that.

After receiving a second-round walkover from Lanlana Tararudee, the No. 8 seed took time to settle against the tricky Czech before overcoming both Bartunkova's variety and multiple weather delays in a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 victory in 1 hour and 59 minutes.

Anisimova's run to the final in Canada in 2024 marked a major milestone in her return from a mental-health hiatus. Now, she's looking to use another trip up north as a similar springboard after a wrist injury disrupted much of her spring and left her searching for rhythm.

"I'm just trying to find my game, and, yeah, find myself on the court," she said after earning her first match win since reaching the second round at Wimbledon last month. "I feel like it's been a really long year. I'm trying to find my enjoyment as well. I think that was really important for me today is that I felt like I was myself again on the court. I was kind of missing that for the last few months."

Against Bartunkova, Anisimova found her hitting groove after falling behind 4-1 early on. Though she couldn't play catch-up in the first set, she surged in the middle frame in just 30 minutes -- and later came from 4-2 down in the decider to punctuate the comeback. That included an eighth-game hold from 15-40 down.

"I knew it was going to be really tough against her. Also, I've never played her. I know she's very crafty, and she's had a great year," she said. She has a really bright future ahead of her. With her game she make it's very difficult for opponents. ... I feel like I managed her game style very well and stuck with it, especially in moments where I was down, like in the third set.

"So, yeah, really happy with the way I played and also just sticking it out, even when I wasn't playing so well."

Easy days at the office for Kostyuk, Pegula

Earlier in the day, Anisimova's fellow Top 10 seeds Jessica Pegula and Marta Kostyk had no such trouble in their wins. Combined, the two dropped eight games against Kamilla Rakhimova and Madison Keys, respectively, to book their fourth-round spots. 

Pegula needed to warm-up three times as she dodged rain drops to beat Rakhimova 6-4, 6-0 -- with one extensive rain delay coming when she was already ahead 6-4, 4-0. In all, the two-time former champion won eight straight games to advance to a Round of 16 meeting with Diana Shnaider -- a rematch of their semifinal from Washington last week.

"At 3-0 it was so dark, I had a feeling that it was coming, and so I was definitely thinking about it," Pegula said. "I just wanted to stay super focused to try and build a lead as much as I could, to be honest. "Then, having the stop, it was 4-0, 40-15 on my serve, so at least I felt like in a comfortable and good spot to come back to after a rain delay.

"So it's always hard because you kind of start rushing sometimes. Sometimes that can be helpful because you stay really focused. Sometimes you can kind of start maybe overplaying and be worried too much about the weather, trying to get off court. It was a tough rain delay. But tougher, honestly, from her perspective. So I think that's what I was just trying to tell myself."

Kostyuk, meanwhile, came into her match with Madison Keys having lost the pair's two previous meetings, which took place in back-to-back years at Wimbledon. But it was a new story on a new surface, and the Ukrainian had things all her own way in a 6-3, 6-1 triumph that put last year's quarterfinalist back into the Round of 16.