Iga Swiatek delivered a commanding 6-2, 6-1 victory over Diana Shnaider on Monday to book her place in the Canada Open semifinals. The Polish star will next face Elina Svitolina, who secured her spot with an impressive comeback win over Ekaterina Alexandrova in Toronto.
The performance bolstered the former world No. 1's confidence ahead of the US Open. Swiatek claimed the Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2022, one of six major trophies in her career.
Against Shnaider, Swiatek controlled the match with precise groundstrokes and exceptional court coverage, wrapping up the contest in just 68 minutes. In the opening set, the Pole broke her opponent twice, capitalizing on Shnaider's 12 unforced errors.
Swiatek moved ahead 5-2 when Shnaider sent a shot into the net and closed out the set after another mistake from the Russian. In the second set, the seventh seed continued to dominate from the baseline and never faced a break point.
She secured another break to lead 5-1 with a sharp cross-court winner, then sealed the match when Shnaider's backhand sailed long on match point.
The win marked Swiatek's first semifinal appearance at a WTA 1000 event in an inconsistent season. She had failed to get past the quarterfinals at Grand Slams and suffered an early second-round exit in Miami at the hands of Magda Linette. That defeat prompted Swiatek to overhaul her coaching team, switching from Wim Fissette to Francisco Roig.
Earlier, at Wimbledon 2025, the defending champion was ousted by Alexandra Eala in the third round in straight sets.
Meanwhile, Svitolina celebrated after completing a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 comeback against Alexandrova. The clash with Swiatek is set for Wednesday. Svitolina previously defeated Swiatek in the Rome semifinals in May.
Alexandrova was nearly unstoppable in the opening set, building on her momentum from a win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round. But Svitolina regained her rhythm to level the match in the second set, then raced to a 4-1 lead in the third with a backhand winner after a net cord.
The Ukrainian allowed her opponent to trim the deficit to 5-3 from 5-1 but broke serve to close out the victory.
