Poland's Iga Swiatek secured her first title of the season with a commanding 6-2, 6-3 victory over Elena Rybakina in the Canadian Open final. It was Swiatek's first appearance in the final of the US Open tune-up event, and she received enthusiastic support from the Toronto crowd, with chants of “Iga! Iga!” ringing out throughout the match and several Polish flags visible in the stands.
Despite the win, Swiatek admitted she felt “angry” after the match, having faced constant criticism from the Polish media during an inconsistent season that saw her fail to reach the quarterfinals at Grand Slam tournaments and prompted a coaching change.
“I think this is the first time in my life that I feel this way after a win, but it wasn't easy,” Swiatek said. “I'm happy I stayed calm, focused, and kept growing month by month despite the challenges. I'm very proud to win this title.”
Swiatek was sharp and agile on the hard courts of Toronto, while Rybakina struggled with unforced errors for much of the evening match.
Rybakina, the world No. 2, was broken twice in the opening set, where Swiatek also saved two break points to gain the advantage. The first set saw 12 unforced errors from Rybakina, who had trouble finding her accuracy.
The Australian Open champion also failed to capitalize on her serve, recording just one ace in the entire match. Swiatek broke again in the second set to take a 3-2 lead. Despite dropping the next game, the 25-year-old closed out the final three games with confidence, sealing the match with a clean winner on match point to end her title drought.
“If she plays her best tennis, she's probably better than everyone,” Swiatek said of Rybakina after the match. “You have to take every chance; you can't afford mistakes or bad decisions.”
Fatigue caught up with Rybakina, who had spent three more hours on court than Swiatek earlier in the tournament, with all three of her previous matches going three sets. “I'm just very tired. You could see I didn't have the legs to push through,” Rybakina said. “There were a lot of unforced errors, especially at the net. It was just a lack of full focus.”
With the Canadian Open title, Swiatek, currently ranked No. 8, will return to the WTA top 5.
