Seventh-seeded Iga Swiatek picked up her first tournament title of the season with a solid 6-2, 6-3 victory over second-seeded Elena Rybakina on Thursday at the National Bank Open in Toronto.
Swiatek needed just 75 minutes and had a first-serve percentage of 80% while slaying Rybakina for the seventh time in 13 career meetings.
Swiatek of Poland converted 4 of 5 break points and controlled most of the match. She had 11 winners and eight unforced errors while winning her 26th career title.
It has been a tough season for Swiatek, who hadn’t played in a WTA tournament final all season prior to Thursday.
She advanced to just one Grand Slam quarterfinal so far this season, falling in the Australian Open to eventual champion Rybakina. She reached the fourth round of the French Open and the third round at Wimbledon.
With just one major victory in her last nine Grand Slam events, the “what’s wrong with Iga?” chorus has been loud and Swiatek has noticed.
“I’m really, really happy about this tournament,” Swiatek said during the trophy celebration. “It means so, so much to me because the past months were not easy.
“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. It’s not easy to deal with all of that.”
Swiatek jumped out fast by winning the first two games of the match. She later won three straight to finish off the first set.
Rybakina led 2-1 in the second set before Swiatek won five of the final six games to end the match and win in Canada for the first time.
Rybakina of Kazakhstan had one ace and four double faults. She hit just 13 winners and struggled with 23 unforced errors.
“I tried my best but it wasn’t enough,” Rybakina said.
Still, Swiatek was well aware she defeated one of the best players in the world on Thursday.
“You had tough matches, you are such a great competitor,” Swiatek said to Rybakina. “It’s always tough to play against you. We’ve played many important matches against each other and I’m sure there’s gonna be many, many more.”
Cincinnati Open
Taylor Townsend delivered nine aces while rallying to post a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio in first-round play in Mason, Ohio.
Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez saved one match point as she rallied for a 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over Australia’s Daria Kasatkina. France’s Lois Boisson rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ashlyn Krueger, and fellow Frenchwoman Diane Parry knocked off Caroline Dolehide 6-4, 7-6 (7).
Katie Boulter of England won the opening game against Katie Volynets before play was suspended by heavy rain. Caty McNally and McCartney Kessler are slated to face off in an all-American matchup later Thursday night.
–Field Level Media
