Polish player Iga Swiatek won her first title of the year on Thursday night by clearly beating Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, who looked exhausted, with a score of 6-2, 6-3 in the Toronto WTA 1000 final.
Swiatek, six-time Grand Slam winner and former world No. 1, hadn’t reached a single final in 2026 so far, and her defense of the Wimbledon title ended as early as the third round.
She, however, convincingly beat Rybakina, world No. 2 and Australian Open champion, claiming her first title in Canada.
After this win, which will move her from eighth to fifth in the world rankings heading into the US Open, the 25-year-old wanted to address those who doubted her and contributed to what she called the toughest year on court.”It means a lot to me,” she said as she received her twelfth trophy at a WTA 1000 tournament, which, in terms of prestige, is just behind the Grand Slam tournaments.
“These past few months haven’t been easy. I’m really happy that I kept focusing on my progress, improving my game a little, and getting better, despite all the opinions many people share about me online every day,” she emphasized.
“It’s not easy to handle all of that. So I’m thrilled that reality is different. I have people who know me very well and support me every week, every day… so thanks to the team.”Rybakina, who had stayed on the court until 1 a.m. to win her semifinal against American Coco Gauff, got off to a slow start, giving Swiatek a break in the very first game after two double faults.
She then managed to bounce back by winning her next two service games without dropping a single point, but after missing two break points in the sixth game, she gave her serve to Swiatek again.
Down 5-2, Rybakina watched her opponent serve for the first set just over 20 minutes into the matchSwiatek, who seemed extremely confident on her serve, won the set with a love game, taking her set point with a second serve winner with spin.
The Polish player was hardly troubled in the second set, taking control by leading 3-2 after a break, then breaking Rybakina again in the final game with a backhand winner on her second match point..
