Iga Swiatek’s struggles early in the 2026 season seem like a distant memory the way she is competing this summer.
The seventh seed and defending Cincinnati Open champion shook off a stellar first set by Greece’s Maria Sakkari and rallied to edge the No. 29 seed, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Monday in Mason, Ohio.
Swiatek did not pass the quarterfinals in the first three majors of the season and did not win a title on any surface. She changed coaches and finally saw the fruits of her labor emerge last week with a WTA 1000-level win in Toronto.
Sakkari blasted five aces in the first set, did not face a break point and converted the one she needed in the fifth game to capture the first set.
Her first-serve percentage dropped precipitously in the second set, and the six-time Grand Slam champion from Poland took advantage, winning 26 of 40 points in the set.
Swiatek kept the pressure on, racing out to a 4-0 lead in the deciding set and advancing to the fourth round.
“It’s hard to analyze it, honestly,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “I felt like I was playing quite good in the first set, sometimes just lacked precision. Played too much to Maria, and she used the opportunities.
“I really wanted to start pushing her so she doesn’t get so many opportunities to push me, so I’m happy that in the second set it started working and I played a bit better. She started making mistakes, and I knew the momentum changed a little bit and it was time to push.”
Swiatek will face France’s Diane Parry in the next round as the 23-year-old took out countrywoman Lois Boisson in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 marathon.
The evenly-played match featured 20 break-point opportunities. Parry won the second set by breaking Boisson in a 22-point game and broke in the fourth game of the decider to advance in two hours, 41 minutes.
Second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan edged Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-4, 7-6 (2), in the afternoon hours Monday amid persistent rain.
Frech served for the second set at 5-4, but Rybakina sprinted out to a 40-0 lead and evened the set. The Pole fell behind 6-5 but staved off three match points and got to a tiebreaker, where Rybakina rattled off the final six points to prevail.
Rybakina’s next opponent will be Russian No. 14 seed Diana Shnaider, who defeated Polish No. 19 seed Maja Chwalinska 6-2, 7-6 (3).
No. 15 Sorana Cirstea of Romania was on her way to a third-set bagel when No. 18 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia retired. Cirstea was ahead 6-7 (4), 6-1, 5-0.
Three matches remain Monday evening, including an all-American affair between No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 25 Emma Navarro.
–Field Level Media
