Iga Swiatek claimed her first WTA title of the season with a commanding 6-2 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina in the Canadian Open final in Toronto on Thursday.
The Pole, a six-time Grand Slam champion, needed just one hour and 15 minutes to see off world number two Rybakina and lift the 26th trophy of her career. It is her first Canadian Open crown and a timely return to form before the US Open, which begins later this month.
Swiatek, 25, broke the Australian Open champion twice in the opening set and saved both break points she faced as Rybakina misfired with 12 unforced errors. The world number eight carried that level into the second set, where Rybakina edged ahead 2-1 only for Swiatek to reel off five of the next six games and close out the match.
Rybakina, 27, finished with one ace and four double faults, hitting just 13 winners against 23 unforced errors. Her previous three matches at the tournament had all gone the distance.
"It means so, so much to me because the past months were not easy," said Swiatek, who returns to the world's top five after the win.
The result caps a difficult campaign for the Pole, who reached the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, where she lost to eventual champion Rybakina, before fourth-round and third-round exits at Roland Garros and Wimbledon respectively. She added Francisco Roig, formerly part of Rafael Nadal's and Emma Raducanu's teams, to her coaching set-up in April.
"I'm really happy that I kept focusing on growing, changing my game a little bit, improving despite all the opinions that many people have about me every day on the internet," she said. "It's not easy to deal with all of that."
Rybakina, playing her first final since winning the Australian Open, was gracious in defeat. "I tried my best but it wasn't enough," she said.
Swiatek's victory came on the same day Ben Shelton retained the men's title in Montreal, beating Brandon Nakashima 6-3 7-6(4) in the ATP Masters 1000 final.
Sources
https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/cd9w5llzwnjo https://www.tennisitaliano.it/canadian-open-shelton-trionfa-a-montreal-swiatek-regina-a-toronto/
