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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She, however, convincingly beat Rybakina, world No. 2 and Australian Open champion, claiming her first title in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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\u2026 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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