RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A LURKER

Iga Swiatek shuts down her season early due to thigh injury

2026-10-20T19:38:10.410-04:00

Second-seeded Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from the BNB Ningbo Open because of a left thigh injury, and has opted to end her season early.

“I’ve been experiencing an ongoing problem with my left thigh over the past weeks," she said, "and I feel that giving myself the time to rest and recover is the right decision. I was really looking forward to competing here and I want to thank the tournament organizers and everyone who was hoping to see me play.

"I’m already looking forward to coming back next year!”

Swiatek was hampered by the same injury during her loss to Maja Chwalinska in the Wuhan semifinals last week.

Swiatek, who was still in contention for the last WTA Finals berth, later announced that she was calling it a season after what has been a challenging year.

"This has been one of the most demanding seasons of my career, with a lot of challenges, changes and lessons along the way," she wrote on Instagram. "I’m especially proud of the work we’ve done in the second half of the year and the progress that came with it. It gives me a lot of confidence in what’s ahead."

"The past few months, or actually the past couple of years, have been incredibly intense, and I feel I need to rest and recover my body fully. So that’s exactly what I will do, a bit longer this time. 😉 I’ve decided to end my season here, which means I won’t be playing any more tournaments this year."

Swiatek finishes the season with a 39-15 record and a title in Toronto.

The World No. 9 has been replaced in the draw by alternate Anastasia Zakharova.

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Although it'll be truly strange not seeing Iga in the WTA Finals this year (after 5 straight years), I'm so glad she has decided to prioritize her health.

I think it'll be beneficial not only for the coming season but her career in the long run.

There really was no point in pushing yourself and making something worse, especially knowing that it wouldn't allow you to play your best when it mattered anyway.

So I'm simultaneously sad and happy that she made this decision, but also cannot wait to see what she'll be able to achieve with some extra time off.

Aside from allowing her body to properly rest physically and mentally of course.

This will really allow her to work on her serve and game in general, we already saw some great results when she took a break after Wimbledon.

She went on and won Toronto, so I have no doubt her new coach Francisco will come up with a great training block and Iga will come out stronger and better for it.

And I genuinely cannot wait for Aussie Open 2027.

It's been a challenging year, so I hope the next one brings Iga a lot more joy and satisfaction.

Something tells me that we'll be in for a great ride.

Thank you for the emotions throughout the season.

Rest up Iga, and enjoy life for a bit.

I for one will be eagerly awaiting your return on court.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek falls short of Wuhan final to Polish compatriot due to injury

2026-10-17T23:33:46.376-04:00

Maja Chwalinska reached her first WTA 1000 final with a straight-sets victory over Iga Swiatek in an all-Polish semifinal at the Dongfeng • Voyah Wuhan Open on Saturday. Chwalinska will face Great Britain's Sonay Kartal in Sunday's final, with both players bidding for the biggest titles of their careers.

Although Chwalinska was the first to break serve in the opening set, Swiatek consolidated a break of her own to take a 5-3 lead. Chwalinska saved two set points in the ninth game, after which Swiatek took a medical timeout to address a leg injury.

The former world No. 1 appeared hampered by the injury after returning to the court, as Chwalinska won 10 of the next 11 games to complete a 7-5, 6-1 victory in two hours, eight minutes.

The win levels the head-to-head record between the two countrywomen at 1-1, after Swiatek won their only previous meeting at an ITF event in Stockholm in 2016.

"From the beginning of the tournament, I kind of felt pain in my quad," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "I've been able to manage that day by day and we were already thinking of withdrawing after I played with Magda in the first round but I was quite able to play normal, so I wanted to push, and we knew that it's nothing like that it's gonna get worse or something, so in that case, you just need to block it out. But today was just too much, and that's unfortunate because I felt like we're playing great tennis and wanted to continue. Later on, I knew it's going to be tough to win, but I didn't want to honestly retire because wanted Maja to win it normally."

"It was such a physical match, especially the first set," Chwalinska said after the match. "She had set points, so it was very close to lose this one. I feel like what I did well is I really fought for every single ball and I could, I mean, I ran to everything I could. So I think that was crucial because I made her like, she had to put extra effort. i really hope she's going to be okay soon and hope she will qualify (for the WTA Finals)."

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It's rare that I feel truly conflicted after a match. On the one hand I'm extremely happy for Maja and all the success she's having (proving that her game translates just as well to the hard court as

on clay).

On the other I'm completely heartbroken for Iga who has been giving it her all this week. Despite feeling ill and as it turns out carrying a bit of an injury since the beginning of the tournament.

Even thinking about withdrawing after the 2nd round but deciding to push through the pain anyway. Shows what a competitor she is something that often goes underappreciated.

Today her body just couldn't give anymore.

The first set was actually quite enjoyable, but towards the end it was evident she was hurt and just couldn't move the same.

Started bailing out of rallies with dropshots (which were actually quite effective and she should consider using them more next year).

Watching her lying down on a towel in tears while waiting for the physio in clear physical pain was so tough.

You could tell she was in quite a bit of discomfort. Some of it was probably also frustration at wanting to keep going but her body not co-operating.

Just upsetting to see as a fan honestly.

Clearly the only reason she didn't retire after the first set was because she wanted her best friend to have the full win. Huge respect.

Iga has only ever retired from a match 3 times in her career.

With this loss qualifying for the WTA Finals will get significantly tougher as she'll probably have to play 2 500s in 2 different countries to actually still have a shot.

Some of it may depend on whether Karolina Muchova decides to play or not.

Personally as much as I would love to see more of Iga's game all the way to the end of the season, I'm not so sure killing herself for it and risking a bad injury would be all that worth it.

What would even be the point of getting there if you're not a hundred percent, it's the one tournament you really have to be if you want to beat the top 7 players of the year.

I want to see Iga play but I'd rather watch her at her best not limping to the finish in every match.

Playing ugly just to win is not enjoyable for me, and it's not for someone of Iga's caliber who's capable of so much more when fully healthy.

I totally get ending the season on a high, winning matches and going into next season with confidence.

But there's also something to be said for realizing it'd be wiser to let your body rest, and give yourself time to go all guns blazing training for 2027.

Obviously ultimately it's all up to Iga and her team and I'll be fine with whatever that choice will be. I just really want Iga to thrive next year.

Let's see what happens over the next few weeks. Wishing Iga a speedy recovery and energy for whatever she decides to do.

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek sets up another all-Polish affair in the semis of Wuhan

2026-10-16T23:09:40.828-04:00

Another day, another milestone for Iga Swiatek.

The former World No. 1 defeated Ann Li 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour, 33 minutes on Friday night to reach her first Wuhan semifinal and become the fourth player since 2009, and the only active player, to reach the semifinals at all 10 current WTA 1000 events.

There, she will face compatriot Maja Chwalinska for the first time at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level.

The matchup will mark the second professional meeting between the former junior doubles partners. They first met at an ITF event in Stockholm in 2016 when both were 15. Swiatek won 6-2, 6-3, and a few months later the pair finished runner-up in girls' doubles at the 2017 Australian Open.

"It's great that we have two Polish players in the semifinals. I think it means a lot to Polish tennis," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "So hopefully it's going to be a nice match. I'm really happy for Maja. She for sure improved her game this year, so I'll be looking forward to the match."

This will be the first all-Polish semifinal at a WTA-level event in the Open Era, though Magda Linette and Magdalena Frech contested an all-Polish final in Prague in 2024.

It also marks just the second time since the tournament's inception in 2014 that two players from the same country will have met in the Wuhan semifinals, following Zheng Qinwen and Wang Xinyu in 2024.

Swiatek handled business in her opening matches against Frech and Ashlyn Krueger and did much the same against Li, who arrived at the quarterfinal stage playing some of the best tennis of her career.

To Li's credit, she pushed Swiatek deep into the opening set. But the six-time Grand Slam champion navigated service games of 14 and 10 points, respectively, and saved three break points in the final game to close out the set after 56 minutes.

From there, it was smooth sailing for Swiatek, who won seven of the final eight games overall to earn her second straight victory over an American and a third consecutive straight-sets win.

Li had her opportunities, but an 0-for-3 mark on break points and 49 unforced errors -- combined with Swiatek winning 74% of first-serve points and 60% of her second-serve points -- proved too much to overcome. The defeat denied Li a spot in her first WTA 1000 semifinal.

Still, Swiatek was quick to praise her opponent. Li upset top seed Aryna Sabalenka and reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal this week, and she is projected to achieve a career-high ranking Monday.

"We're playing really good tennis," Swiatek said. "We [both] have a lot of top spin. I'm happy with how I adjusted to the change of rhythm. We already played this year, and I know she's not an easy opponent. She's playing really great tennis and I like her style, so I knew I needed to be at the top of my game, loosen up my hand and play fast and brave."

This is now the seventh different WTA 1000 event where Swiatek has reached the semifinals without dropping a set and the first time she has done so since winning Cincinnati last season. A victory over Chwalinska on Saturday would send her to her first Wuhan final and leave her with final appearances at all 10 current WTA 1000 events.

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Despite not feeling well Iga really managed the match well today.

She may not be at her highest level due to an illness but still has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

The 2nd set was particularly impressive. Her defense toward the end of that set was something else.

Reminded me of her early days on tour, just being a wall and getting everything back with her incredible speed.

Hopefully she's feeling well enough to play tomorrow, cancelling the post match press conference might give her that bit of extra rest she needs energy wise.

It'd be a real shame if Iga couldn't compete in the 2nd all Polsih match of the tournament.

Although I imagine it'll not be easy having toe play against your best friend.

Quite exciting for Polish tennis though, I'm genuinely looking forward to it.

Jazda!.

25 - Since the Tier format’s introduction in 1990, only Steffi Graf (28), Martina Hingis (36) and Monica Seles (37) have taken fewer Tier I/WTA-1000 main draw appearances to reach 25 semi-finals than Iga Swiatek (50). Echelon.

1 - Since 1990, Iga Swiatek (Rome, Toronto, Cincinnati and Wuhan in 2026) has become the first player to reach her first four WTA-level semi-finals of a season at Tier I/WTA-1000 events. Charge.

10 - Since 2009, Iga Swiatek is now the fourth player – and the only currently active player - to reach the semi-final at all 10 current WTA-1000 events along with Caroline Wozniacki, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Simona Halep. Collect.

Iga Swiatek wins 150th WTA 1000 match to reach the quarters in Wuhan

2026-10-15T22:32:00.000-04:00

Iga Swiatek collected her 150th WTA 1000 win Thursday night in Wuhan, defeating lucky loser Ashlyn Krueger 6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour, 34 minutes to reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

Among the seven players to reach the milestone since the format's introduction in 2009, Swiatek (187) did so in the fewest matches. Since 1990, she is just the third player to record at least 150 wins within her first 50 Tier I or WTA 1000 main draws, joining Martina Hingis (162) and Serena Williams (153).

The milestone also helped Swiatek gain ground in the race to qualify for the WTA Finals Indian Wells. Karolina Muchova, who currently occupies the final qualification spot, fell to Diana Shnaider earlier Thursday in the Round of 16.

"It's not easy at the end of the season, so I'm really focusing on recovering every day as much as possible," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "But I'm happy to get some wins, because I feel like I'm playing better than at the beginning of the season, so I'm ready to push and happy to be in the quarters."

Swiatek has now reached seven WTA 1000 quarterfinals in 2026, surpassing Elena Rybakina
for the most by any player this season. It marked her 32nd career WTA 1000 quarterfinal. Only Aryna Sabalenka (33) has reached more among active players.

It wasn't Swiatek's sharpest performance, but her steadiness under pressure, combined with Krueger's mounting error count, carried her to a relatively straightforward victory.

Here are the key numbers from Swiatek's latest victory and what they could mean for the former World No. 1 moving forward:

5: Consecutive WTA Finals appearances. The 2023 champion has qualified for the year-end championships every year since making her debut in 2021. Entering the week, she was tracking toward an alternate position, but a few more wins could further tighten the race.

7: Break points saved. Swiatek excelled in the biggest moments on serve, saving seven of eight break points. Krueger created opportunities throughout the match, but Swiatek consistently came up with timely responses to escape trouble.

9: Wins against lucky losers. As a result, Swiatek improved to 9-0 against lucky losers in her career, with eight of those victories coming in straight sets. Her only three-set win over a lucky loser came against Zheng Qinwen in San Diego in 2022.

41: WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz match wins in 2026. With two more wins in Wuhan, Swiatek has improved to 41 victories on this season. She has been particularly effective since the return to hard courts, posting an 18-3 record since Toronto.

46: Unforced errors by Krueger. The American generated more winners than Swiatek (16-9) but undermined her efforts with 46 unforced errors, 19 more than her opponent. Many of her best opportunities disappeared through self-inflicted mistakes.

Swiatek will face Ann Li, who upset top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round Wednesday, in the quarterfinals. Swiatek lost her only previous meeting with Li via retirement in Madrid earlier this season.

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Iga Swiatek wins another battle of the Poles this time in Wuhan

2026-10-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

No. 7 seed Iga Swiatekand No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina kept their bids for a spot at the WTA Finals alive with second-round wins at the Dongfeng • Voyah Wuhan Open on Wednesday, albeit in contrasting fashion.

Swiatek had the easier path, scoring a 6-2, 6-1 win over fellow Polish player Magdalena Frech in 1 hour, 43 minutes. The victory was her 40th of the season on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz and her 149th in WTA 1000 events, moving her past Serena Williams (148) into outright seventh place on the all-time list since the format's introduction in 2009.

"I'm happy to get the first match on the center court because I didn't get a chance to play there before," Swiatek told the media after her win. "At the beginning of the match, it was point by point, but then I was happy that I started making less mistakes and I used my chances till the end of the match. For sure it was tougher than the score."

With her second win in as many meetings against the World No. 56, Swiatek improved to 19-2 against opponents ranked outside the top 50 this season. Her only two losses have come against No. 52 Maria Sakkari in Doha and No. 121 Zheng Qinwen at the US Open.

Swiatek has also recorded at least 40 wins in a season for the fifth consecutive year, a run of consistency she is pleased with.

"I mean every year has been so much different that there's no like recipe or solution," Swiatek said. "I'm happy that even though every year was different and presented different challenges, I'm able to be consistent and for sure this one has been.. toughest so still getting every win means a lot and you know I'll try to have as many as possible obviously."

Swiatek believes this season has been particularly challenging and she reflected on what she has learned from the struggles.

"Probably the biggest lesson will be that nothing will come easy because you know it kind of has been pretty up in my career going like always forward a little bit," she said. "When when I had some bad periods, I suddenly won something and I felt great. This year it's been a bit tougher. I think I will learn to have more grit and to find also little successes, not only be happy with the results, but also with the process and everything."

Swiatek will next face either Ashlyn Kruegeror Lanlana Tararudee. It would be her first meeting with either player.

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This was a bit of a weird one, a very misleading one sided score line while the match was quite the opposite.

Seemed like at times Iga really couldn't decide whether to be passive or aggressive, but slowly figured it out.

I'm gonna chuck it up to Iga getting used to the conditions of the court. To the naked eye the court looks quite slow.

Hopefully she'll play better in her next match as she'll have to make adjustments again playing her first night match of the tournament.

Iga Swiatek makes 6th quarterfinal of the season at China Open

2026-10-08T12:45:44.965-04:00

In the first career meeting between six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek of Poland and rising American teenager Iva Jovic, Swiatek advanced to the quarterfinals of the China Open in Beijing with a 6-1, 6-3 victory Wednesday.

Swiatek dominated the opening set, winning the first five games and earning two set points in the sixth game before Jovic held serve to get on the scoreboard. The Pole then held serve to close out the set on her fifth set point.

The second set began with Swiatek breaking early to take a 2-0 lead, but Jovic began finding more range and depth on her groundstrokes. The 18-year-old, ranked a career-high No. 13 in the world, broke back to level the set.

Jovic, who entered the match on a six-match winning streak after winning the Guadalajara title last month, saved two more break points in the next game to take a 3-2 lead. But Swiatek broke twice in a row to complete the victory in 1 hour, 36 minutes.

"For sure (today), I was using more of the chances that I got," Swiatek told the media after the win. "I was more proactive. Maybe changing the directions more instead of just being solid, more intense. When I needed that, I could play long rallies and be in defense, as well. Everything was working today."

Here are some of the notable numbers from Swiatek's fourth-round win:

9: Swiatek now has nine wins against players ranked in the top 20 on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz in 2026, against eight losses. She also recorded her 35th win against a player outside the top 10 this season, against eight losses.

31: Swiatek is through to her 31st career WTA 1000 quarterfinal. Among active players, only world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka has reached more, with 33.

36: Swiatek has 36 wins against top-15 opponents at WTA 1000 events. Among active players, only Serena Williams, with 44, and Sabalenka, with 41, have more.

126: Swiatek has now won 126 of 128 WTA 1000 matches in which she won the first set. Both those losses have come in 2026 - to Maria Sakkari
in Doha and to Magda Linette in Miami.

148: The victory was Swiatek's 148th WTA 1000 main-draw win, moving her level with Serena Williams. Among active players, only Sabalenka, with 156, has more. Overall, Swiatek and Williams are tied for seventh place for most wins since the WTA 1000 format was introduced in 2009.

Swiatek will face No. 13 seed Elise Mertens in the quarterfinals. Mertens, who defeated No. 3 seed Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-3 in another fourth-round clash on Tuesday, has not beaten Swiatek in their two previous meetings.

"I feel like my game has improved," Swiatek said reflecting on her recent form. "Obviously sometimes playing the tournament is a bit tricky. Not everything is depending on you. I believe what I'm doing makes sense moving forward.

"That gives me the most confidence. For sure when you have great results on a match, it's always a good boost of confidence. But tennis is tough. You need to be ready for every match. Your previous results are not going to give you anything. I'm going to push no matter what and we'll see how it goes."

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Iga was absolutely in the zone in the first set looked like she might score another bagel.

In the 2nd set Jovic started playing much better and Iga's level dipped a tiny bit, but she she stayed solid and finished it off.

An excellent performance.

Mertens next which is a bit of a surprise since she had an 0-5 H2H with Gauff.

If Iga plays like today should make the semis with no issues.

Jazda!

6 - Iga Swiatek is the second player since the format's introduction in 2009 to reach 6+ WTA-1000 quarter-finals for four years in a row (2023-2026) after Simona Halep (2015-2018). Strive.

Iga Swiatek comes back from brink of defeat to reach round of 16 at China Open

2026-10-05T18:20:55.954-04:00

Iga Swiatek had won all four of her previous meetings with Donna Vekic, dropping just one set. But in their China Open third-round match Monday in Beijing, No. 30 seed Vekic appeared poised to end that run after taking a 6-4, 5-2 lead.

Swiatek, the 2023 champion, refused to let the match slip away. She broke Vekic twice to level the second set at 5-5, then won the tiebreak without losing a point to force a decider.

After the players exchanged breaks to open the third set, Swiatek broke again for a 3-2 lead and closed out a 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2 victory in 2 hours, 40 minutes.

"For sure I was in a bad position score-wise, didn't really know after the first set what to change to play better," Swiatek told the media after the win. "Later on in the second set I was playing more brave and more aggressive, changing more down the line. At the end I think it's what changed the rhythm of the match.

"I don't know how many points we both had, but I felt like I'm playing good. I felt like we might be even, but maybe she was winning the more important points. I knew I had my opportunities; I should push a little bit more. I just needed to go level up because she played really good, used these chances that I didn't use in the first set."

For Vekic, the loss marked her third defeat to a top-10 player in 2026, having previously lost to Mirra Andreeva at the Australian Open and Jessica Pegulaat Indian Wells.

Swiatek is through to the round of 16 at a WTA 1000 event for the 40th time in her career and will be bidding to win her 13th title at this level.

It was also Swiatek's 147th win at WTA 1000 events. Only Serena Williams, with 148, and Aryna Sabalenka, with 156, have more.

She moves on to face No. 10 seed Iva Jovic next. The American defeated Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 7-5 in another third-round battle on Monday.

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Another tournament another wild rollercoaster from Iga. I'll admit at 5/2 down I had my finger on the power button of my tv and honestly considered turning it off.

I honestly didn't think she had a chance at a comeback the way the first 2 sets went.

She couldn't make any headway on return in Vekic's service games and only had one break point all match which she didn't take. So I pretty much deemed it a lost cause.

But Iga had other ideas.

She said in her post match interview that she was really pissed, because she didn't think she was playing that badly.

And to be fair in the fist set she really wasn't she just had one bad service game.

Maybe she should get pissed more often because it really worked :D.

At 5/2 30 love on Vekic serve she became a different player.

Probably a combination of having nothing to lose at that point and just wanting to try something different.

She upped her aggression and suddenly all her returns started going it.

I think even Vekic was surprised with how quickly the momentum changed and all of a sudden it was her feeling all the pressure on serve and failing to hold.

And that tiebreak was something else.

Just when you think Iga has accomplished everything in her career she adds something new.

For the first time she won a breaker without losing a point.

It was pretty impressive to watch.

It's like Iga just let go of all the stress and played with abandon.

Safe to say everyone wishes she could do that more often but it's easier said than done.

I do hope she takes a lot of confidence for the next match facing a young American Iva Jovic for the fist time.

This tournament has already been wild with both Sabalenka and new world #1 Rybakina going out early on back to back days.

So no idea what to expect but I'm excited to see it.

Jazda!.

40 - Since 1990, only four players have reached 40 Tier I/WTA-1000 rounds of 16 in fewer main draws than Iga Swiatek (49) – Martina Hingis (43), Lindsay Davenport (45), Conchita Martinez and Serena Williams (46 each). Rise.

For the first time in her LIFE, Iga Świątek wins a tiebreak 7-0. That considers European juniors, ITF juniors, ITF Tour, WTA Tour, and 145 total tiebreaks played.

Iga Swiatek back to winning ways at China Open

2026-10-03T17:57:00.000-04:00

Former champion and No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek opened her campaign for a second China Open title with a straight-sets win over local wild card Xinyu Gao in the second round in Beijing on Saturday.

Swiatek, who won the title here in 2023, exchanged an early break of serve with the 244th-ranked Chinese player before gaining a two-break advantage to claim the first set 6-2. The Polish star, ranked No. 9, broke twice again in the second set to close out a 6-2, 6-3 win in 1 hour, 27 minutes.

"For sure, it was a solid match," Swiatek said after her win. "Many long rallies. I'm happy about that because I had a chance to get the rhythm of the court, feel the ball. For sure a good start. I'm happy to be back here."

Here are some key numbers from Swiatek's latest win:

5: The number of break points Swiatek converted in the match from eight opportunities. Gao earned only one break point and converted it.

6: This was Swiatek's sixth opening-match win in seven WTA 1000 events this season. Her only opening-round loss at a WTA 1000 event this year came in Miami, where she fell to compatriot Magda Linette

.6: This was Swiatek's sixth win in seven matches against opponents ranked outside the Top 100. Her only loss came to No. 121-ranked Zheng Qinwen in the fourth round of the US Open.

9: Swiatek has captured nine wins from her first 10 matches at this tournament. That is the most of any player, tying her with Coco Gauff and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

146: This was Swiatek's 146th career main-draw match win at WTA 1000-level events. Only two currently active players have more career main-draw match-wins at the WTA 1000 level -- Aryna Sabalenka (156) and Serena Williams (148).

4: Swiatek holds a 4-0 record against her next opponent, No. 30 seed Donna Vekic. Vekic defeated another Chinese wild card, Lin Zhu, 6-4, 6-2 to book her place in the third round. Three of Swiatek's four wins over Vekic have come in straight sets. This will be their fourth meeting on hard courts.

Swiatek added that qualifying for the season-ending WTA Finals remains a big goal for her in the coming weeks

"For sure that's the goal. I'm going to be fighting for that. Obviously I'm aware. But it doesn't change the fact that it still feels pretty far as there are many tournaments where you can gain many points.

"I try to just take it step by step because if I'm focused only on the next match, this is where I perform my best. I've never been in this position, so for sure it's another experience in my career."

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Good first match, played with depth and margin on the groundstrokes.

She was building pints with high percentage tennis.

Even her serve was sold.

Nothing but positives for a first match back after a tough U.S. Open loss.

9 - Iga Swiatek has claimed nine wins from her first 10 matches at the China Open, the most of any player at this event - level with Coco Gauff and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Victory.

Iga Swiatek falls in the 4th round of U.S. Open

2026-09-08T01:02:44.141-04:00

This one hurts.

5/1 up it looked like a routine set for Iga and it tuned into anything but.

I'm still a bit speechless that Qinwen managed to do this twice.

With Iga and Madison Keys the match prior.

I guess the adage about qualifiers still rings true they can often be the most dangerous.

Simply because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Will Qinwen be able to keep this up?

Who knows.

I'm just sad that Iga is no longer in the tournament.

I really do hope her thigh is ok and it's not anything serious as she so rarely takes medical timeouts.

I don't think it was a collapse as some people have said, it really was just Qinwen putting more shot in and Iga making errors.

Not in panic mode where she's hitting shots a mile long, quite a few were forced errors I'd say.

Iga didn't give up though she kept trying to find solutions in the 2nd set.

Qinwen was just steadier on serve in one key moment and all she needed was one break to finish it.

I like that she was light hearted in post match about things always going this way for her at U.S. Open.

As it's happened for her every year aside from 2022.

And she's right the U.S. Open really is her worst Slam despite actually winning it once.

I'm glad Iga didn't sound too discouraged in the presser and that she's still feeling positive about her game.

Devastated about the loss sure, but she's steadfast in terms of not allowing this to deter her from everything she's been doing and all the positive results she's had of late.

As she said it's just one match, it doesn't erase all the progress prior.

I think it bodes well for the Asian swing however that ends up.

The Chinese fans really love her there.

Sometimes it honestly feels like she's more appreciated there then she is in her home country.

Which is sad for me to say as a fellow Pole.

I would love for her to qualify for the WTA Finals purely for selfish reason's because I just want to see her play more before the season is through.

And it'd just be weird to not see her there.

But if it doesn't happen, it won't be the end of the world. It'll give her more time to work on things before Australia.

Maybe even give her more time to hire that second coach she's been looking for.

So keep your head up Iga, lot's of tennis still left to play. Your supporters will be with you though the good and the bad as always.

Jazda!.

Iga Swiatek fights past Bouzkova to make it to U.S. Open 4th round for the 6th straight year

2026-09-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

Iga Swiatek won two tiebreaks in a single match for the first time in her career Saturday, outlasting No. 25 seed Marie Bouzkova

7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in 2 hours and 27 minutes to reach the US Open fourth round for the sixth straight year.

"It got pretty physical," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "[There were] many long rallies, and sometimes I had to attack many times because Marie was defending really well and getting every ball back -- also using her opportunities when she had a chance. I just wanted to be solid and play one more ball in and not aim too much. It was really tricky."

Despite being pushed throughout and having to save three set points in the second set, Swiatek remains undefeated against Bouzkova at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level. She leads the head-to-head 4-0 and hasn't dropped a set. She has now won 13 of her last 14 matches overall, losing only to Jessica Pegula in the Cincinnati semifinals.

It was an unusual victory for Swiatek beyond the first-time scoreline. Her serve wavered -- she won just 60% of her first-serve points and was broken five times -- but the rest of her game held firm. She excelled at the net, winning 15 of 17 points, and finished with 35 winners, 15 more than Bouzkova. She also punished the Czech's second serve, winning 64% of those points to secure five breaks of her own.

The match itself was a break-fest. Swiatek was the first to hold for 3-2 in the opening set before Bouzkova answered for 3-all. After breaking for 6-5, Bouzkova served for the set, but broke again to force the tiebreak. Bouzkova double-faulted to hand Swiatek a mini-break at 2-0, and the Pole closed it out from there.

Bouzkova nearly forced a decider, leading 6-5 as Swiatek served to reach another tiebreak. The Czech held three set points, the last saved by a Swiatek volley winner. It proved her final opening, as Swiatek grabbed the mini-break on the first point of the breaker and never looked back.

"I tried not to think of these points as set points. I tried to play them as I would any other point. I didn't want to create too much pressure," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "Obviously if I'm focused well, I don't know what the score is. So that's the time in the match where I can just focus on my tasks, and then I can be more consistent no matter what the score is.

"It wasn't easy to do that today, but that's how I felt in the tiebreaks, as well."

Swiatek is now 7-2 in tiebreaks in her US Open career.

The win sets up a box-office fourth-round matchup with Zheng Qinwen, who saved a match point and rallied from 5-0 down to defeat No. 22 seed Madison Keys
earlier Saturday. Swiatek has won seven of their eight meetings, losing only at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

And for what it's worth: Swiatek is undefeated against qualifiers and lucky losers at Grand Slams (15-0).

wtatennis.com

This was supposed to be a nice relaxing match for me to watch, instead it turned into quite a rollercoaster. Last person I expected to turn a match into such a physical one was Bouzkova.

Though I suppose Iga is partly to blame as she didn't want to pull the trigger and instead was happy to extend rallies with Bouzkova all day long.

The fact she was able to do that speaks volumes in terms of progress. Iga of earlier this year probably would have looked for shortcuts and got frustrated and overhit.

But new Iga is patient as the day is long :D.

If this was the beginning of this year this match would have been dragged to a 3 setter with Iga probably losing.

I was actually quite impressed with her concentration throughout despite the many breaks of serve in the match. And how clutch she was in the tiebreakers.

She had a clear plan and stuck with it.

Maybe she wanted to feel the ball more knowing that tougher opposition is to come. Honestly can't remember last time Iga won so many points at net.

Zhang Qinwen next, the woman responsible for the heartbreak of Iga losing at the Olympics at her favourite venue of Roland Garros.

I'm certain Iga's fans still have nightmares about it, that match changed a lot of things for Iga it made her doubt herself more.

Granted it's been quite a few years since the 2 have faced off, both are in very different places career wise.

Iga is a 6 time Grand Slam Champion and Zhang has been sidelined by injuries and had to play qualifying just to get into the draw.

Which does make her even more dangerous.

Because she's able to play with a lot more freedom feeling like she has nothing to lose.

I think the match will come down to who has the better start, and who holds their nerve better in the key moments.

I have faith that Iga's new coach will help prepare her well.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek into the 3rd round with another confident U.S. Open win

2026-09-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK -- US Open fans had a rare opportunity to watch Iga Swiatek play in a more intimate setting on Thursday, and she rewarded them with a dominant performance that was never in doubt.

Playing each other for the first time since the French Open semifinals six years ago, the World No. 8 made quick work of Argentinian Nadia Podoroska, winning 6-3, 6-2 in the Grandstand in a little over an hour.

Swiatek was highly efficient on her serve, making 79 percent of her first serves and winning 78 percent of those points. She was never broken.

The only legitimate threat from Podoroska, who had defeated Simona Waltert in three sets in her opening match, came late in the first set. After holding to cut Swiatek's lead to 5-3 in the opener, she had three opportunities to break. Swiatek responded with two unreturned serves before bringing it to deuce. After two more deuces, Swiatek converted her second set point when Podoroska's forehand landed just wide.

The second set had no such drama, as Swiatek jumped out to a 5-1 lead and won the match with a gorgeous crosscourt backhand that Podoroska couldn't get to.

Despite the lopsided score, it was a clean match from Podoroska, who hit 11 winners to just 12 unforced errors. (Swiatek's ratio was only slightly better, with 14 winners to 13 unforced errors.) But Swiatek's superior serve, return game and net play kept her comfortably in front throughout.

Swiatek moves into the third round of the US Open, where she'll play 25th seed Marie Bouzkov. Bouzkova defeated Britain's Harriet Dart 6-2, 6-2 later on Thursday to advance.

Swiatek has won all three of her WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz meetings with Bouzkova, the most recent of which was a 6-2, 6-3 win at the Australian Open earlier this year. Bouzkova has never taken a set off Swiatek.

wtatennis.com

Another really good performance from Iga.

2nd match in a row she didn't face a break point or lose serve. 1st time she played on Grandstand since 2021.

27 - Iga Swiatek has made the Round of 32 in the last 27 Grand Slam events (since the Australian Open 2020): in the Open Era, only Martina Navratilova (35 and 30) and Conchita Martinez (30) had longer such streaks in Women’s Singles Majors. Star.

Iga Swiatek off and running at U.S. Open with confident first round win

2026-08-31T13:25:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK -- Iga Swiatek and Wang Xiyu traded holds across the first seven games of the second set before the seven-time Grand Slam champion made her move. A perfectly placed forehand in the corner gave Swiatek the break she needed, and she served out a 6-2, 6-3 win after 1 hour and 28 minutes on Monday night.

It's the kind of performance that has come to be expected of Swiatek. Straightforward, and perhaps to the dismay of fans at Louis Armstrong stadium, lacking drama. The same can be said for her head-to-head with Wang, which she leads 3-0. She has won all three of their meetings in straight sets.

Swiatek has now won 28 consecutive opening matches at majors, with her last -- and only -- defeat in a Grand Slam first round coming to Viktorija Golubic at Wimbledon 2019. She is 30-1 overall, with 28 wins in straight sets.

"I don't treat these matches like they should be easy. I don't take them for granted," Swiatek said. "I'm always ready from the beginning (of the tournament) to put forward the intensity and I'm ready with the level."

While it was a forehand winner that sealed an opening hold for Swiatek, it was her work off the other wing that positioned her to take the first set. It's the shot that carried her to a break for 3-1 and the ensuing 4-1 hold.

To Wang's credit, she kept fighting, even from 0-40 down in her next service game. While Swiatek dominated behind her backhand, Wang's forehand kept her in the match. She saved two of the three break points with forehand winners and the other with a stellar volley.Things flipped in the final two games of the first. Swiatek suddenly found her forehand, while Wang's control of the shot vanished. Swiatek struck another forehand winner on game point to hold for 5-2, then hit two in the final game. She then watched as Wang's forehand sailed long to hand her the break and the set.

Swiatek's brilliance extended into the second. A perfectly executed forehand pass gave her a chance to break midway through the set, and while she didn't convert then, she earned the break a few games later. In total, she forced nine break points -- converting three -- while facing none on her own serve. She also won 80% of her first-serve points.

Swiatek will face World No. 449 Nadia Podoroska (former No. 36) next. Swiatek won her only previous meeting with the Argentine in the 2020 Roland Garros semifinals en route to her first Grand Slam title.

A win would give Swiatek her 110th Grand Slam main-draw victory since the start of 2020. She has already claimed the most of any player, with Aryna Sabalenka (106) the only other player with 100 or more such wins over that span.

wtatennis.com

Iga played with confidence and clarity today.

Knew what she wanted to do and just went for it with no hesitation.

Her whole game looked just free flowing, something we've rarely been able to see this year.

I would say the coaching partnership with Roig is a slam dunk.

It took time to see all the work and instruction bear fruit, but it's really evident in the way she's playing now.

Things have definitely clicked into place and it is an absolute joy to witness.

I can honestly say that out of everyone who looked quite nervous in their first rounds today, Iga looked most at ease.

Came out focused and in the zone and just stayed in it throughout.

On to the next one.

Jazda!

25 - Only three players this century have managed 25 career wins at the US Open in fewer matches than Iga Swiatek (31) – Serena Williams, Venus Williams (28 each) and Kim Clijsters (30). Merchant?

28 - Iga Swiatek (US 2019-US 2026) is the first player to record 28+ consecutive opening match wins at Grand Slam events since Serena Williams (31, RG 2012-WM 2021). Routine.

Roger Federer's legacy as he enters International Tennis Hall of Fame

2026-08-30T14:41:00.000-04:00

NEWPORT — He raised the level of the tour, created a new way of playing, inspired generations of young players and brought new fans to the sport. Roger Federer, the newest member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, left a mark on the game in many different ways.

Great legends of tennis reflected on the Swiss player’s legacy. A spoiler: none of them speak specifically of wins, titles or records. All agree that what he built goes far beyond that.

“What a positive role model in every sense for our sport,” Billie Jean King told CLAY in Newport, minutes before the 20-time Grand Slam champion was inducted into the exclusive club.

For King, the great impact Federer generated is visible in the leading figures of tennis today.

“Take Carlos Alcaraz. Carlos is born, and the three best players in history played for more than 20 years. Roger had a great rivalry with Nadal, and then Djokovic appeared. Can you imagine growing up watching those three? That is what helps each generation surpass the last: you are watching the greatest. The standard Carlos has seen his entire life is incredibly high,” said the 12-time Grand Slam champion.

Mats Wilander, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002, also believes Federer’s greatest contribution was raising the level of competition.

“His biggest impact is that he raised the bar so high that the level suddenly improved remarkably — because he was so dominant in his generation and took it to the next level, which is why today we have Alcaraz and Sinner,” the 1988 world No. 1 told CLAY.

“The way he was able to get so many non-tennis fans interested in watching him,” said Jim Courier.

“The elegance that he brought to the game, the way he made something so complicated look so simple, and maintaining his dignity and class all the way through all the combat he endured — it was pretty spectacular,” the North American, a two-time Australian Open and Roland Garros champion, told CLAY.

Redefining the game. Imposing a unique style, as effective as it was pleasing to the eye. Marat Safin, one of his great generational rivals, places Federer’s main legacy right there.

“He was the new way of playing tennis — his technique, his vision, the way he approached the game. He created a new generation of young players who grew up on him. The way he could play with the ball, he brought it to a whole different level of understanding the corners. You can see it in the way he was moving, the way he was anticipating, the way he was behaving on court. It’s the best one,” Safin told CLAY.

“He challenged you to play at 150% to beat his 100%. He’s the most complete player of all time, in my opinion. The margin of error is very small, and if you lose a little bit of concentration, you are gone — and everybody knew it,” the Russian, former world number one and champion in New York (2000) and Melbourne (2005), said in Newport.

In the most technical of analyses, Billie Jean King described a detail that for her makes an important difference.

“He watches the ball better than anybody else, which I love to analyze. The main reason people miss the ball, especially at the pro level, is because they don’t watch the ball all the way to the contact point. When Roger was playing, I said: go watch Roger. He’s versatile, he’s quick, but he watches the ball,” said King, a Hall of Fame member since 1987.

Popular affection is another notable aspect, evident this Saturday in Newport, where never before had so many people gathered for an induction ceremony.

“He’s an all-time great. People adored him, particularly corporate people,” said Billie Jean King. “He just made the game so popular in the world because he’s such a class act,” said Wilander.

claytennis.com

Roger Federer inducted into International Tennis Hall of Fame

2026-08-29T13:50:00.000-04:00

I thought I was done crying over Roger Federer making speeches after his retirement at Laver Cup in 2022.

I was wrong. So very wrong.

He got me again.

What a wonderfully heartwarming, funny, genuine, eloquent and emotionally impassioned speech.

I was in tears before he even came on stage due to Mirka who rarely does public speeches introducing him. I think the woman has spoken publicly maybe one other time in Roger's entire 20+ year career.

But boy, was she good.

Not a dry eye in the house.

Roger's whole speech was a reminder of just why I admired him for so many years. Still do in fact.

What's that saying people often utter in tennis, form is temporary class is permanent.

And Roger Federer is the epitome of it.

Not just in tennis but in life.

It's not the number of victories or titles that make you the greatest of all time, it's who you are when no one is watching as Mirka put it in her speech.

It's why Federer will always be my G.O.A.T. no one else on the men's side will ever compare.

There will always be debates with Nadal, Djokovic etc. but to me there's no contest.

Iga Swiatek ends 10 match win streak in Cincinnati semis

2026-08-23T16:34:09.010-04:00

Well Iga was far from her best today, physical and mental exhaustion caught up to her a bit after Toronto.

As she herself admitted she was low on energy as the match begun, thus the 13 total service breaks.

Still Iga should be nothing but proud of herself, she kept fighting despite not having her level or rhythm for almost 3 hours.

Iga of 5, 6 months ago would have lost in straights. Here she was still thinking and problem solving on court, trying different things.

She's staying mentally stronger in matches and finally has belief in her game and shots again.

Didn't work out but she give it her all.

So definitely lot's of positives to take away.

Great fight, and a good indicator of what needs some work before NYC.

I think tiredness made Iga a lot less patient in rallies and she at times reverted to ball bashing and trying to outhit out of frustration. Tricky windy conditions certainly didn't help the situation.

Serve let her down with untimely double faults at very key moments towards the end of sets.

If it weren't for that this match could have honestly gone either way.

Stats wise it literally came down to a few crucial points.

By the end of the match Iga actually had a higher first serve percentage and more winners.

Pegula was just better at taking her opportunities and keeping her advantage (Iga was up 3-1 in the 3rd but couldn't consolidate the break).

Pegula does have a way of frustrating opponents with her flat ball striking, and makes you keep hitting extra balls.

She's also very good at taking time away on fast hardcourt surfaces.

Something that usually Iga does to her opponents.

If you're not feeling it on the day, her solid game will definitely take advantage. And that's exactly what happened.

That said an extra day or 2 to rest before the last Grand Slam of the year is probably not a bad thing for Iga.

Proud of the way she fought despite not at her best.

Great run, on to NYC.

Jazda!

Side note as great as Pegula was at times in this match I'll be surprised if she comes out the winner.

My money is on Gauff (who at the moment is serving better than Sabalenka and Rybakina combined).

Iga Swiatek back in the Cincinnati semis via Rybakina retirement

2026-08-20T23:12:39.519-04:00

Elena Rybakina's stay at the Cincinnati Open -- and current quest to dethrone Aryna Sabalenka at the top of the PIF WTA Rankings --- ended on Thursday night when she was forced to retire from her quarterfinal match against Iga Swiatek with a left ankle injury.

Swiatek was leading 4-1 with Rybakina serving at 40-15 when things first appeared to go wrong. Rybakina couldn't finish off a rally at the net, and when Swiatek put a tough passing shot at her feet, the Kazakh missed the follow-up half volley and put her hands to her knees. She struggled to push off on her first serve on the next point, which lasted just three shots, and after a mid-game medical evaluation, Rybakina elected to end the match moments later.

After Sabalenka lost to Sara Bejlek in the fourth round on Wednesday, Rybakina needed to reach the final in Cincinnati to take the World No. 1 ranking. Instead, Sabalenka will retain the top spot going into the US Open next week, and Swiatek, the Toronto champion, will face Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.

"Honestly, I felt a bit like scared because I don't know if I see a player having an injury like that," Swiatek said afterwards. "I wasn't sure because she didn't look good obviously. But then she wanted a treatment, so I wasn't sure if she's going to be back or not. So I wanted to be really focused on just being ready because breaks like that can really throw you off of your rhythm and the momentum. But then I felt really sorry for her, but hopefully it's nothing serious."

“I was feeling anxious just looking at this situation," she added. "I hope Elena will be fine. The next tournament is the priority. I know this one is important as well. But US Open is US Open. I hope she’s gonna be ready for that. She’s super close to being No. 1 in the world. It’s a shame. I thought we were playing a good match. But health is a priority. I hope she’s gonna be OK.”

Rybakina later said that the issue was "bothering [her] for a long period of time," but she felt it was under control until the recent Hard-Court Swing.

"The match against [Magdalena] Frech [in the third round], stopping with the rain delays, I started to feel it more, and I took a day off completely after," she said. "It was feeling OK before the match but unfortunately one wrong movement, one landing, and something happened.”

Admitting that it was even painful to walk after the match, she said she hoped to learn more about the problem in the coming days.

Swiatek is bidding to become just the second woman since 2004 to successfully defending a Cincinnati title, after Serena Williams in 2014-15. She will take a 7-5 head-to-head record into her semifinal with Pegula, but the American has won four of their hard-court matches.

"Jessie looks different than me on the court, but she has a great feeling and great ability to predict where the opponents are going to play," Swiatek said. "So the ball is really hard coming from her racquet and tricky. For sure, it's going to be a challenge.

"American players also are more pumped to play in American tournaments, so I'll be ready for her best version. We played many tough matches against each other, and for sure she likes also playing here, so I'll be ready."

wtatennis.com

Iga was playing quite well and it looked very likely that she was going to advance regardless.

But no player wants to advance in this way.

I was quite looking forward to seeing how this one would unfold, so it was a real disappointment it ended the way it did.

Pegula next.

It's been a while since they met especially on American soil so could be a potential blockbuster. Although Pegula did get a medical time out in her match against Anisimova as well.

Thank you extended WTA 1000's.

I'll keep saying this till I'm blue in the face, but when will the tennis establishment start putting the players welfare first.

24 - Iga Swiatek has equalled Victoria Azarenka for the third-most WTA-1000 semi-finals reached (24) since the format’s introduction in 2009. Podium.

4 - Iga Swiatek has become the player with the joint-most consecutive semi-finals reached at the Cincinnati Open in the Open Era (four, 2023-2026), equalling Simona Halep (2015-2018). Feeling.

Iga Swiatek sets up another meeting with Rybakina 1 week later in Cincy Quarters

2026-08-19T15:09:00.000-04:00

Another tournament, another milestone. No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to nine matches with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Diane Parry in the Cincinnati Open fourth round, and advanced to her 30th quarterfinal in the 48 WTA 1000 events she has contested in her career.

In addition, the former World No. 1 has made at least the quarterfinal stage in 14 of the 30 Grand Slams she has played so far. This season, Cincinnati marks her seventh tour-level quarterfinal.

As ever, the defending champion was mindful not to place too much weight on such statistics.

"It's always nice to hear that," she said in her on-court interview. "Usually after a tournament I like to a little bit look at the numbers, but during I'm just focused on the next match -- it doesn't matter if it's a quarterfinal or a second round, I treat every match the same way. But I know my Wikipedia is going to look good! The key is to focus on being present, and that's how you can get to those numbers."

Being present is exactly what Swiatek did to win her second match in as many meetings with Parry. There were sticky moments, most notably at the start and end of the contest. Swiatek was slow out of the blocks and dropped serve in her opening game -- but Parry was unable to convert two points to hold for 2-0, and the Pole swiftly wrested control of the set.

She maintained that firm grip all the way to a 6-3, 5-1 lead as Parry's intermittent forehand winners were outweighed by a slew of unforced errors -- 24 in total -- as she was unable to consistently hit through Swiatek. But with her back to the wall, the Frenchwoman suddenly produced her best tennis.

Using her slice to extend points and keep Swiatek on the move, Parry won two games in a row, saving a first match point on Swiatek's serve with a terrific forehand winner. Swiatek, though, quickly adjusted, winning two key lungbusters on Parry's serve at 5-3 to help her over the line on her fourth match point.

"I think how I adjusted to the slices and how I got them back," Swiatek said to press of what she was pleased with. "There weren't many situations where I felt out of rhythm while playing them, which is not easy because she has a good slice. She uses it a lot."

Swiatek said it felt like a flashback to playing former No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, who's signature shot was the slice. The Pole went 0-2 against Barty, with one match on hard court and the other on clay.

"Honestly, yeah. Sometimes when I played down the line, she was killing me with the forehand," Swiatek added. "I felt 'Oh my God, that's exactly what [I've felt before]. On the other hand, I was preparing for Ash then and it gave me some confidence."

Up next for Swiatek is a familiar foe in No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, as the two will meet for the second time in eight days following Swiatek's straight sets victory to win the title in Toronto. The matchup is also another edition of last year's Cincinnati semifinal, which Swiatek won 7-5, 6-3.

Rybakina defeated No. 14 seed Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-4 behind eight aces and winning 41-of-48 (85%) of her first service points. She also saved all seven break points faced, and notched a timely break in each set. For the second straight year and third overall, Rybakina has reached the last eight in Cincinnati.

"I think that my serve worked and helped me quite a lot this match because I didn't start too good, and I feel the serve did the job," Rybakina said. "Altogether -- the toss, push with the legs, rotation -- just all together."

Compared to Toronto, Rybakina has yet to drop a set in Cincinnati and is likely much more fresh than the effect of four-set matches and late night finishes had ahead of her Toronto final vs. Swiatek, who showcased her best tennis all season in Canada.

"It's tough to say that I'm much fresher but we will see how it's going to be tomorrow," Rybakina said. "I got some good sleep last two nights because after Canada it was really tough straight away. We will just see tomorrow."

"I feel no matter the results, it's a good preparation for upcoming US Open to play someone who is in a good form right now and playing well," Rybakina added. "My serve wasn't that good in Canada so if I can serve at least as I did today, it will be very helpful."

wtatennis.com

Another really solid match from Iga.

Did a great job dealing with the slices coming from Parry, not easy having to stay low when you're tired but she managed it all well.

Stayed patient and calm once more. The lengthy rallies were so impressive and something I've very much missed from Iga this past year.

This will be the 2nd time this tournament she plays back to back matches.

And now she'll face Rybakina once more, a much more rested Rybakina who hasn't lost a set and hasn't had to play lengthy 3 setters. So I expect this one to be a lot closer (maybe with a breaker) possibly a 3 setter.

But if Iga has a good start as she did in Toronto I really think she'll manage it (despite the first night match and all).

Definitely can't afford a slow start like today giving away the fist game. But I think she'll come ready to fight.

She's in the very tough part of the draw, but what better way to prove to yourself that you're doing well then by facing tough tests. Especially right before the U.S. Open.

Jazda Iga stay strong and keep going!.

30 (2) - Iga Swiatek is the fourth-youngest player to reach 30 Tier I / WTA-1000 quarter-finals since the format’s introduction in 1990, older only than Martina Hingis, Agnieszka Radwanska and Maria Sharapova. Diamond.

30 (1) - Since the format’s introduction in 2009, only Serena Williams (45) and Agnieszka Radwanska (46) have made 30 WTA-1000 quarter-finals from fewer appearances than Iga Swiatek (48). Hurried.

9 consecutive wins in the season and in Cincy

Iga Swiatek fights past Sakkari for her 100th career hardcourt win

2026-08-17T00:39:00.000-04:00

No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek came from a set down against frequent rival and No. 29 seed Maria Sakkari to continue her Cincinnati Open title defense, advancing 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to the fourth round in 1 hour and 58 minutes

Swiatek improved to 6-4 overall against Sakkari, and 6-1 since the start of 2022. Her lone loss to the Greek player in that timeframe came in this year's Doha quarterfinals.

However, the former World No. 1 has seen an uptick in form during this year's Hard-Court Swing. She snapped an 11-month title drought to claim the Toronto title last week, and has now extended her winning streak to eight matches. Swiatek will next face Diane Parry, who defeated Lois Boisson4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in an all-French third-round derby. No. 66-ranked Parry advanced to the last 16 at WTA 1000 level or above for the third time in her career, following Indian Wells 2024 and Roland Garros 2026.

Swiatek and Parry have played once before, with Swiatek winning 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Swiatek's comeback by the numbers

"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. She was playing faster than me, I feel like, or deeper. 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 may have found the match hard to analyze, but a few key statistics are illuminating.

Neither player was at their best off the ground in the first set -- Swiatek committed 17 unforced errors and Sakkari 13, both outweighing their winner tally. The Greek player, however, served brilliantly. She fired five aces, two when serving the set out, and did not face a break point -- the first time this season that Swiatek has failed to generate a break point in a single set.

Two double faults from Swiatek in the opening game of the second set seemed ominous for the Pole -- but she gritted out a hold, and with it the momentum shift that she mentioned. It was as absolute as it was sudden: over the second and third sets, Sakkari committed 26 unforced errors while striking just a single winner (when 4-0 down in the decider).

Meanwhile, Swiatek kept her game watertight - she tallied 13 winners to 20 unforced errors in the last two sets, a similar ratio to her first-set numbers -- and, once she had saved two break points to lead 3-0 in the second set, did not face another for the rest of the contest.

wtatennis.com

You could definitely tell Iga was understandably tired and low on energy and intensity in the first set.

Which makes total sense with such a short turnaround and travelling to 2 different countries.

Along with playing back to back days.

Add having very little time to practice in different conditions, balls, court etc and I was actually quite impressed with how quickly she adjusted and turned the match around in her favor.

The Iga of 2 months ago probably would have been the one to suffer the loss.

But now she played smart and continued to be patient in rallies, even when things weren't going her way and frustration seeped in.

She stayed calm and just waited and took advantage of her opportunities when Sakkari's level dropped.

It's a huge positive change, or I should say return to status quo because Iga was always like this.

She just lost confidence in her game and faith in her shots. Winning Canada has really brought that back, and it's a real joy not having to worry about mental slip ups in 2nd sets.

Instead I get to watch Iga in full flight really enjoy herself out there again, playing with belief and a sense of belonging, maybe even feeling a bit freer too.

So that's 8 wins in a row for Iga now, and a 4th third set comeback of the season.

After Toronto I'm not really focusing on Iga's level because as she proved it's definitely there.

This week is more about recovery and finding a way to keep going.

Every win is icing on the cake but it also won't be a bad thing if she doesn't get to the end and gets a few extra days of rest before the U.S. Open.

Both her and Rybakina are one win away from meeting each other in back to back tournaments this time in the quarters.

We'll see how it goes, at the moment I'm simply soaking up seeing Iga kick butt on court again.

Jazda!

100 - Iga Swiatek has claimed her 100th win from 127 WTA-1000 matches on hard court – since 2009, only Serena Williams (118) has claimed 100 wins from fewer matches on the surface. Century.

80 - Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Iga Swiatek (80.2%, 142-35) only trails Serena Williams (84.1%) for career win rate at WTA-1000 events. Control.

Iga Swiatek off to a flier in Cincy Open defense

2026-08-16T21:11:22.588-04:00

After capturing the National Bank Open crown on Thursday, the question was how Iga Swiatek
might respond to a quick turnaround for her upcoming title defense at the Cincinnati Open.

She answered it with aplomb on Sunday. The Pole picked up her seventh straight match win — and seventh in a row at the tournament — by beating Colombia's Emiliana Arango
6-3, 6-0 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

The 2025 Cincinnati champion won the last seven games after a slow start, falling behind a break at 2-1. She admitted that she needed time to adjust to the court speed in Cincinnati, which is “much different” from Toronto. But once she found her range, it was smooth sailing.

"At the beginning, I felt I needed to get used to the court and the conditions, and get my rhythm," Swiatek said to press after the 1 hour and 12-minute win. "There were some shots that I mishit or played a little bit too long because the ball is flying differently than in Toronto.

"Later on, I played much more efficient, and game-by-game, I knew what to address to just make less mistakes and be more solid. By the end of the match, I felt really good."

Seven proved a good number for Swiatek in the match -- Arango is also now 0-7 against Top 10 players -- but it wasn't the only one. Other notable numbers from the match included:

2: Arango could do little to stem the Swiatek tide once the No. 7 seed got going. She only won two points on serve in the second set.

4: After hitting 17 unforced errors in the first set, Swiatek only hit four in the second set.

"The ball is bouncing a bit higher in the air and it acts a but different," Swiatek said on the difference between Toronto and Cincinnati's courts. "There was some wind today that was different than Toronto. It was more humid so physically, you feel much different.

"The ball kind of stays in the air longer, which makes it tricky sometimes if you're not used to it."

5: She broke Arango's serve five times in the match.

18: Swiatek finished the match with 18 winners -- 15 more than Arango.

30: The win marked Swiatek's 30th main-draw match won on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz this season.

41: Swiatek has now won 41 6-0 sets at WTA 1000 level in her career. Only Martina Hingis (52) and Serena Williams (50) have more since 1990.

99: Swiatek now has 99 career hard-court wins at WTA 1000 tournaments. Should she beat Maria Sakkari in the third round, she would become the fifth active player to claim 100-plus wins in hard-court WTA 1000 events along with Aryna Sabalenka, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina and Serena Williams.

wtatennis.com

Not much to say after this one.

Iga did a superb job adjusting to the different court conditions considering she barely had 2 days to train with the quick turnaround from Canada.

And still no rest with Sakkari tomorrow.

After not seeing Iga for weeks at a time it's nice to see her almost on the daily at the moment.

The only thing I'm not looking forward to tomorrow is Iga playing first up at 11am.

The visibility of the ball in this tournament is absolutely atrocious (forgot how much I hated it).

80 - Since the format’s introduction in 2009, Iga Swiatek (80.2%, 142-35) only trails Serena Williams (84.1%) for career win rate at WTA-1000 events. Control.

Iga Swiatek, the champion in Toronto!

2026-08-14T00:29:33.616-04:00

Entering Thursday, the last time Iga Swiatek defeated Elena Rybakina was last summer in Cincinnati, where she went on to win her most recent WTA 1000 title.

Until now.

Swiatek capped a stellar run in Toronto with a dominant 6-2, 6-3 win over World No. 2 Elena Rybakina in 75 minutes to claim her first title of the season -- and the 26th of her career -- at the National Bank Open. It also marks her 12 WTA 1000 crown, moving her past Aryna Sabalenka (11) for the second-most since the format debuted in 2009. She now trails only Serena Williams (13).

The victory also pushes Swiatek ahead 7-6 in their head-to-head on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, snapping a two-match skid against Rybakina.

"You're such a great competitor, and it's always tough to play against you," Swiatek said during the trophy presentation. "We've played many important matches against each other, and I'm sure there are going to be many, many more."

This was the second time the two have met in a final, with both matches going Swiatek's way in straight sets. She is now 26-5 in WTA finals, the best win rate of any player with 20 or more WTA-level finals since the Tier format's introduction in 1990.

The 2026 season had been a lackluster one by Swiatek's high standards entering Toronto. She had yet to reach a final, had slipped to No. 8 in the world and was on the fringes of the WTA Finals picture. Above all else, her confidence appeared shaken.

But those afflictions seemed to evaporate the moment she stepped foot on Canadian soil.

The six-time Grand Slam champion opened her campaign with a bagel and dropped just six games across her first two matches. After a comeback win over Marta Kostyuk in the Round of 16, Swiatek returned to dominance in a 6-1, 6-2 rout of Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Swiatek avenged a pair of three-set losses to Elina Svitolina earlier this season with a three-set victory of her own to reach the championship match.

By completing the title run with a win over Rybakina, her longtime rival, it appears some of those inner -- and outer -- demons have been conquered.

"I want to dedicate this title to everyone who is dealing with unfair judgement and hate," Swiatek said. "Just keep pushing, keep growing, keep focusing on yourself because you know what's best for you. And always remember what's ahead and what might be possible."

With her triumph in Toronto, Swiatek has now captured all five significant North American titles: Indian Wells (2022, 2024), Miami (2022), US Open (2022), Cincinnati (2025) and Canada (2026).

She is also three-fourths of the way to a Career Slam, missing only an Australian Open title, and has won eight of the 10 WTA 1000s on offer -- with Dubai and Wuhan the only two she has yet to claim.

In total, Swiatek holds 19 Big Titles, including: Roland Garros (x4), US Open, Wimbledon, WTA Finals, Rome (x3), Doha (x2), Indian Wells (x2), Beijing, Canada, Cincinnati, Madrid and Miami.

She is 6-0 in Grand Slam finals, 1-0 in WTA Finals championship matches and 12-2 in WTA 1000 finals. Across those 21 matches, she has lost five games or fewer 14 times.

But your guess is as good as hers as to why she appears so unflappable with a trophy on the line.

"I don't really know because I try to approach these matches the same as the ones before. I know what I did right, and I'm just trying to continue that," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "I guess if I'm in the final it means that my game is good, and that gives me confidence, for sure.

"You know you need to go all in if you want to win the tournament because you're going to face the best player in the final. So just trying to focus on that."

Rybakina double-faulted twice in the opening game to hand Swiatek an early break and was unable to find her footing as the match progressed, clearly missing a step after a run to the final that included four three-setters in five matches -- the last two against Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, both of which required her to rally after dropping the first set.

After Swiatek took the first set in just under half an hour, Rybakina offered a brief resistance to begin the second, but Swiatek broke for 3-2 and that was all she wrote. After a forehand winner sealed a hold for 5-3, the former World No. 1 broke for the fourth and final time -- finishing with a backhand winner -- to take the title in Toronto.

As a result, Swiatek is projected to rise three spots to No. 5 in the PIF WTA Rankings and, more importantly, jump two places to No. 10 in the Race to the WTA Finals as the home stretch begins. Rybakina, meanwhile, tightened her grip on the No. 2 ranking and continued to close the gap between herself and Sabalenka in the battle to be World No. 1.

wtatennis.com

After an 11 month title drought Iga Swiatek is back in the winners circle once more.

And what a win it tuned out to be!.

Iga took charge from the get go after Rybakina had a slow start on serve and just runaway with the first set.

Came up with absolutely brilliant shots when in trouble. Shots full of conviction that feels like we haven't seen in months.

Looked truly fearless the entire match, it's like she said to herself this title is mine and I don't care who's on the other side of the net, I'm not letting anyone take it from me.

Iga Swiatek in finals has always been a different beast, and today she reminded everyone why.

She finally remembered how pivotal her heavy topspin, patience and footwork were to her identity and success as a player.

It was never about the serve, when Iga let's her athleticism shine, everything else flows and there are very few who can stop her.

I must think that Iga's coach is in someway responsible for this awakening and for that I sincerely thank him.

Because boy did tennis need it.

I absolutely loved her victory speech, spoke from the heart about how tough things have been mainly because of criticism on the internet and media abroad but especially in our home county of Poland.

She sternly reminded all of them that in the end it is her who decides what is best despite all of their "expert" opinions.

And it became a lovely message of encouragement to players and people alike to shut out the negativity and noise and just stay true to yourself.

Bravo.

The Champion of Toronto in my adopted country, won by a woman from the country of my birth. It doesn't get sweeter than that.

Congratulations Iga, you have earned this enjoy it to the fullest!.

Hope you get at least a little breather.

See you in Cincy.

Although I honestly can't bring myself to care about that title defense right now.

Whether it happens or not kind of doesn't matter, because Iga has just proven she's back where she belongs.

Whatever happens next feels like icing on the cake.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek makes first final in Toronto, and the first final of the season

2026-08-13T16:29:54.151-04:00

Iga Swiatek knew what she needed to do against Elina Svitolina at the National Bank Open on Wednesday night to reach her first final on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz in nearly a year.

Facing a third set against the Ukrainian for a third time in three 2026 meetings, Swiatek found "the right rhythm" to complete her first win against Svtiolina in those three matches, as well as advance to her 14th career WTA 1000 final, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

The six-time Grand Slam singles champion admitted to losing her grip on the level that nabbed her an early lead in the rain-delayed semifinal match, which started nearly an hour later than expected. But after letting Svitolina "play her game" in the second set and early in the third, Swiatek was happy with how she settled down to come from a break down in the decider and complete the victory in 2 hours and 17 minutes.

"Against Elina, it's always tough, so I'm happy that I won this one," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "Especially that I came back in the third set playing better. So that's for sure a big improvement.

"Mostly I just wanted to adjust the quality. Because tactics can't do much if you're just not hitting the ball right. I knew I can do it, because I did it in the first set. I had it in me ... I'm happy that I was patient enough to do that and didn't get disappointed or didn't give up, and just found a way to play better in the third."

Increasing pace and depth helped, she said. Swiatek nearly matched her total of winners in the first two sets combined (14) with her third-set total (13).

"If I want to win a semifinal where you know your opponent is playing good, I need to step up, and there's no looking back," she said. "You kind of start from the beginning when we start the third set. It doesn't matter what happened in the second, I know what to do in the third, and I just needed to follow that."

After failing to win a three-set match against a Top 20 player all season prior to arriving at Sobeys Stadium, Swiatek has won two to reach the final in Canada for the first time -- having also done so against Marta Kostyuk in the fourth round. Her efforts so far, she says, has reaffirmed in an up-and-down season that she is still up for the fight in challenging moments.

"It hasn't been an easy season, probably the toughest one in my life on-court," Swiatek said. "This week has been really positive and inspirational for me. It always kind of shows that you need to keep going no matter what."

wtatennis.com

Well I guess my good feeling was correct.

What a match!.

Iga started great out of the gate and just did not let Svitolina breathe. For a while there it looked like she might even get a bagel.

She did what she's been doing so great all week long stayed patient and rallied with Svitolina (with some absolutely breathtaking display of athleticism). She stayed in the rallies and didn't bail out and try to end them early by overhitting from the baseline.

Svitolina being Svitolina raised her level and fought back in the 2nd and went up a break, in the 3rd.

Despite that Iga kept fighting, she didn't get frustrated to the point of losing her compose and and focus. She found a way back from the brink.

I'll be honest even I thought the match was over at that point. But Iga found that 6 time Grand Slam champion mentality, she recovered and won the match proving me wrong once again.

She won against Svitolina in slow night time conditions something that's not easy to do against a great counterpuncher like her.

Iga snatched this match from Svitolina with true grit, quality and resilience, something that has felt missing in her game for months now.

Feels apt that Iga found her level in a place where 18 year old Iga found belief that she could be a top ten player and belong in the sport.(2019 Toronto semi vs Wozniacki).

This match felt like such a huge mental turning point, I'd say even more so than against Kostyuk. There she had an awful first set and came back from a set down.

Here Iga won after getting a 1 set advantage, having a big dip in the 2nd and recovering a break in the 3rd.

For someone like Iga who's a great front runner, that's often proved so much harder to do especially of late.

The Iga of 2 months ago probably would have lost.

A massive change.

The kind of change that might give her back that locker room aura again, and make all her opponents start fearing her before they step out on court.

So a final with Rybakina awaits.

Pretty much as hard as it gets with one of the best servers on tour.

But Rybakina's route to the final has not been without struggles.

She's had a lot of 3 setters (with a lot of unforced errors), and an awful lot of time on court. That coupled with the 1am finish last night might be something Iga can use to her advantage.

Along with keeping Rybakina on the move and staying close with her on serve.

Really lovely vocal crowd support for Iga last night (minus the one guy who wouldn't shut up between serves because there's always one).

Must have felt so good for Iga after all the struggles she's been though and the criticism she's faced the past 11 months.

This win the affirmation that the work she's been doing with her new coach and team is working.

Talk about going a long way towards self belief too.

Brawo Iga.

Go for it tonight.

Jazda!.

14 - Iga Swiatek has reached a 14th WTA-1000 final from 47 main draws entered – since the format’s introduction in 2009, Swiatek (29.8%, 14/47) trails only Serena Williams (38.3%) and Maria Sharapova (32.0%) for rate of finals reached. Perspective.

3 - Iga Swiatek has claimed three WTA top 20 wins at a single event for the first time since claiming tournament victory at Roland Garros in 2024 (Marketa Vondrousova, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini). Scalps.

31st career final, going for 12th WTA 1000 title

Has now made at least Finals at 9/10 WTA 1000 events (just missing Wuhan & only played it once).

Iga is just one Australian Open and one Wuhan away from making the finals or better at the 15 biggest tournaments in the world. Still only 25 years old.

Iga Swiatek plays her best match to reach semis in Toronto

2026-08-10T00:18:00.000-04:00

Iga Swiatek hasn’t had the season she’s accustomed to, but there have been signs lately that she’s finding her best tennis again. Monday night in Toronto offered another one.

The No. 7 seed overwhelmed No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider -- who was coming off a win over Jessica Pegula-- in their Toronto quarterfinal, dropping just three games in a 6-2, 6-1 rout that lasted 64 minutes.

"I've been feeling good on the court. I know how much I practiced and what we did [during] the practices," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "This is giving me confidence. It's just a matter of being in a good place that day and using it. So I'm trying to do my best every day, keep my routines, be really focused, and for sure, I'm really happy to be in a semifinal."

With the win, Swiatek improved to 2-0 against Shnaider at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level and advanced to her 23rd WTA 1000 semifinal. Since the format's introduction in 2009, only Serena Williams (53.1%) has reached a higher rate of semifinals than Swiatek (48.9%). Only three players have reached more WTA 1000 semifinals than Swiatek -- Simona Halep (29), Serena Williams (26) and Victoria Azarenka (24). She's tied with Agnieszka Radwanska at 23.

Swiatek's path to this latest semifinal hasn't been without drama -- see her Round of 16 win over Marta Kostyuk-- but Monday night was stress-free. She broke in the opening game, dominated on serve and broke again for 5-2 as Shnaider unraveled under a string of forehand errors, the last of which handed Swiatek the opening set.

The second set saw more of the same. Shnaider produced flashes, but Swiatek broke for 2-1 and never looked back. She won the final six games and crossed the finish line a few minutes past the one-hour mark.

"Today I just followed the plan. I was really focused. I feel like I'm for sure better focused," Swiatek said in her post-match press conference. "I'm able to follow the plan a little bit easier because I feel the ball well on my racket. It's a nice tournament where there's not much fuss around, you can really focus on your job. I just have a good time on court."

Here are the numbers to know behind Swiatek's dominant quarterfinal victory.

0: Break points faced. Swiatek wasn't threatened on serve, never facing a break point and rarely landing in tight spots across seven service games.

8: Unforced errors. While Shnaider struggled to keep the ball in play, Swiatek was squeaky clean. Her eight unforced errors are her fewest in a match this season.

10: Out of 11. With semifinals now in both Toronto and Montreal, Swiatek has reached the last four at 10 of the 11 current WTA 1000 event locations. Wuhan is the lone exception.

67.8: Winning percentage against Top 20 players. Since 1990, only Steffi Graf (82.1%), Serena Williams (75.3%), Monica Seles (70.4%) and Martina Hingis (67.9%) have a higher career win rate against Top 20 opponents.

88.5: Percent of first-serve points won. Swiatek won 23 of 26 first-serve points, her best mark of the season.

In the semis, Swiatek will face No. 9 seed Elina Svitolina, who rallied from a set down to defeat No. 16 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 in 1 hour and 33 minutes in Monday's second quarterfinal.

She has won four of seven career meetings against Svitolina, though the Ukrainian claimed both of their matchups this season -- in Indian Wells and Rome -- in three sets.

wtatennis.com

This was Iga's best match of the season on hardcourt and maybe even in general this year.

She mentioned in post match that the Kostyuk match was that for her and it was in part because she finally showed belief and started playing her game again.

But this was her best match from a level perspective. From beginning to end she served well, returned well, and moved well.

She looked self assured on her shots and stayed in the zone concentration wise all the way though. There were no 2nd set level dips in sight. It was an emphatic 64 minute straight sets win.

I've mentioned in past blog posts how I've been waiting for Iga's game to start clicking and that in time it would. The Kostyuk match definitely feels like the catalyst of just that.

For the first time in months I was actually able to watch an Iga match stress free because she looked comfortable on court and everything looked like it flowed.

The majority of which has to be attributed to the calmness and patience on court. It has really allowed her to construct, control and extend rallies better,

And of course using her movement and return skills. Something that has felt sorely lacking in her game since last year.

The stress would make her panic so much she would completely forget about her footwork and revert to ball bashing and over hitting from the back of the baseline. Feels like in this tournament she has rediscovered certain skills again.

It could be all the extra time she had to train with her new coach after Wimbledon, allowed her to work on those things and it's paying dividends

Or it could also be as she herself has admitted the simple fact of the pressure being off. The pressure of not being a 4 time Roland Garros Champ on clay and the Wimbledon defending champion as well. With that part of the season finally behind her.

Whatever the case I hope it continues because it has allowed her to play more clearly and problem solve. Any tournament where Iga sticks around to the end is all the better for it.

Iga's next opponent Svitolina will test everything I just talked about, but if Iga can continue implementing things the way she has this entire week I think she just might get the win.

The win over Shnaider matched Iga's best result in Canada having reached the semis of Montreal a few years back. Also making this just her second semi final of the year.

Words can't express how badly I want this win for her. Especially given Svitolina has been the one to stop Iga's momentum form-wise twice this year. In matches where to be honest Iga didn't put up much of a challenge.

A win would also give her the first final of the year which would be a crucial confidence booster before the last Slam of the season not to mention the rest of the year and beyond.

Night conditions will probably favor Svitolina, and Iga will no doubt be made to work hard. But I don't know I have a good feeling about this one, I think she'll keep a cool head and finally prevail.

Jazda!

Iga Swiatek battles past Kostyuk to make the quarterfinals in Toronto

2026-08-09T01:05:20.790-04:00

A three-set win for Iga Swiatek against Marta Kostyuk on Saturday didn't just put the former World No. 1 into the quarterfinals of the National Bank Open for a second time. It also snapped one of the most notable droughts on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.

Swiatek had lost her last seven three-set matches against Top 20 players dating back to last September -- and she would've had reason to despair after losing the first set against Kostyuk from twice being a break ahead. But instead, the six-time Grand Slam singles champion rebounded in a big way -- and never lost serve in the second and third sets to score a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.

In all, Swiatek saved nine break points across the second and third sets to score any kind of Top 20 win for the first time since the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in May: three at 2-0, and three more when she served for the set. The tension of the moment was later evident in a five-deuce final game, where she needed six match points -- and saved two break points -- to wrap up the win in just over 2 hours.

Afterward, Swiatek confessed she "knew [she] could play better" after a first set where the two players combined for seven service breaks -- and focused on being "more brave."

"In the second I came out ... playing a bit faster and more heavy, and pushing Marta a little bit more," she said. "I knew I can, you know, keep being solid while doing that. So then, like, game by game I felt like it was a good plan and a good choice, and I went for it."

The effort also snapped Kostyuk's winning streak in three-set matches. She had won her last seven dating back to a first-round loss to Elsa Jacquemot at the Australian Open in January, where she suffered an ankle injury.

Swiatek will next face No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider, who scored a milestone of her own by beating Jessica Pegul.

The 6-3, 6-3 win for Shnaider against the two-time champion was her first in five attempts and reversed the result of their semifinal match at the Mubadala DC Open last week.

wtatennis.com

Where do I even start with this one.

Wild feels like an understatement.

I have seen a lot of Iga matches over the past 6 years, but what I witnessed in that first set was something else.

I mean Iga literally won 1 point on serve.

One.

She hang in it simply with great returns, but just could not hold serve every time she got the advantage.

Once she lost that first set things looked really bleak. I thought, oh no here we go now Iga is just going to crumble and start overhitting and this will be Roland Garros all over again.

But I have never been happier to be so very wrong.

Iga kept her focus, composure and most importantly patience and instead started playing more aggressive rather than passive.

She made Marta self destruct (something that's been mostly happening to her of late).

She did it by cutting down her unforced errors, with her forehand, some absolutely vintage returning and sliding (oh how I've missed her defensive sliding!).

It really felt like the Iga of old (which might seem like I've said a lot lately) but this time truly felt like it.

Especially because she did it when things weren't going her way and she was a set down in a pretty horrendous way.

Iga of earlier this year would have just given up.

But here she really problem solved and kept fighting just refused to give up even after losing 3 match points and having to finish it on her 6th.

That refusal to lose felt like Grand Slam champion mentality again.

I think I'm most proud of the way she didn't take her foot of the pedal when she got the momentum and just forced Marta to feel all the pressure by simply extending rallies and playing solid.

I realize I'm overexcited because I just missed her tennis so much and that anything could happen still, but this felt like such an enormous stepping stone.

It was just her 3rd three set comeback this year, and you could see by the emotional roar at the end of the match just how much it meant to her.

Things will get very interesting now as the expected seeded opponent Pegula lost to Schneider for the first time and the world #1 Aryna Sabalenka was upset as well.

There would still be the challenge of Svitolina most likely, but we take it one match at a time and just ravel in the breath of fresh air that was this comeback match.

A well deserved win.

Avenging that Roland Garros loss feels pretty damn sweet too.

Jazda!.

4 - Iga Swiatek has become the third player since the format’s introduction in 2009 to reach 4+ WTA-1000 quarter-finals in 5+ consecutive years (2022-2026) after Agnieszka Radwanska (2009-2014) and Simona Halep (2014-2019). Constancy.

61.7 - Iga Swiatek has now the best percentage of WTA-1000 quarter-finals reached (61.7%, 29/47), surpassing Serena Williams (61.2%, 30/49) since the format’s introduction in 2009. Area.

29 - Only Agnieszka Radwanska (35) has made more WTA-1000 quarter-finals than Iga Swiatek (29) before turning 26 years old since the format’s introduction in 2009.

Iga Swiatek scores another solid win in Toronto

2026-08-06T01:08:00.000-04:00

For the second round in a row, No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek conceded just three games to advance at the National Bank Open. The 2023 semifinalist sped past Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-1 in 66 minutes to book her place in the fourth round.1d ago

Golubic occupies a rare place in Swiatek's career lore: she's the only player who has ever defeated the Pole in the first round of a Grand Slam. But that was back at Wimbledon 2019, when Swiatek was just 18 years old. The former World No. 1 has not lost to Golubic in three matches since, and conceded just five games to her in their last two encounters.

"For sure it was a good day, and I'm really happy with the way I played," Swiatek said in her on-court interview. "Even though the first game wasn't super smooth, I knew I can start from the beginning, and then it went my way and I could find my rhythm."

Swiatek will next face either No. 10 seed Marta Kostyuk or No. 19 seed Madison Keysas she bids to reach her second quarterfinal in Canada.

Drop shots provide highlights for both: Though Swiatek dropped serve in the first game of the match, once she had broken back immediately the contest was largely one-way traffic. The six-time major champion landed 18 winners to Golubic's five and conceded just 14 points on serve -- including that opening break.

But there were still some spectacular moments from both players to entertain the Toronto crowd. Golubic came up with the first, delivering enthralling variety and finishing with a half-volleyed pickup pass in a 25-stroke first-set exchange to hold for the first time. Swiatek may have been inspired: the 25-year-old has eschewed the drop shot for many years, but she came up with a brilliant one en route to breaking Golubic for 2-0 in the second set.

For the most part, though, Swiatek managed to keep a lid on Golubic's variety and shotmaking abilities.

"I think I played back her slice pretty well, so the change of rhythm didn't bother me that much," she said in her press conference. "I tried to pick the right balls to attack because I was controlling the pace, it was just about the decision making."

wtatennis.com

Another good win for Iga today, sure Golubic doesn't really have any weapons to hurt Iga but she can be tricky with all the different spins and speeds of the ball.

I thought Iga handled it superbly, she was patient, in extended rallies and waited for the right shot to finish instead of rushing as she has been of late.

Something her and her new coach had the chance to work on and it showed.

That patience is something she's going to need in her next match against Kostyuk who'll definitely force her to rush and take her time away.

While Kostyuk was impressive in her match against Keys, she definitely wasn't in her first match of this tournement and had quite a few double faults.

As good a season as Kostyuk has had she's still prone to having these kind of performances, but regardless of which version shows up on Saturday I have a good feeling about it.

I think Iga might just get the chance for some revenge over Roland Garros this year.

Iga kept her focus all the way though the match as well which was a very encouraging sign.

Kostyuk will be the true litmus test of this tournament.

If Iga can get past her, the entire rest of this season might just have some hope for good things to come and that her work really is showing some progress.

But even if she doesn't as long as I see Iga really fighting and problem solving it'll feel like a win, because at Roland Garros Iga just seemed helpless and give up.

I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about this one.

Jazda Iga!

Iga Swiatek starts Toronto return with a win

2026-08-05T00:06:21.899-04:00

Playing her first match of the Hard-Court Swing, Iga Swiatek raced out to a 6-0, 3-0 lead over Sara Bejlek in just 45 minutes -- but had to battle for nearly another hour to finish off the valiant Czech 6-0, 6-3 in 1 hour and 34 minutes.

"For sure it was a good match, and a good start of the hard-court season," Swiatek told reporters afterward. "I'm happy with the level. The first set I was playing with a lot of confidence and very straightforward, so for sure a good one. Then, in second, parts of that were kind of the same as first. But there were for sure a few tricky games, especially the long one. I haven't played a game like that in some time, so I'm happy that I won it and I was solid at the end, so for sure a good match."

The pair had already met in the second round of Roland Garros this year -- and though Swiatek won that encounter 6-2, 6-3, she noted afterwards that Bejlek's speed and variety had made it a "tricky match." It was little surprise that the No. 7 seed came out of the blocks sharp, winning a superb cat-and-mouse exchange on the very first point and then hammering a return winner for an immediate break of the Bejlek serve.

That set the stage for a dominant opening set in which Swiatek fired seven winners, committed only three unforced errors and conceded just 11 points in total. As she advanced to a point to hold for 4-0 in the second set, the possibility of her first 6-0, 6-0 victory since defeating Amanda Anisimova in the 2025 Wimbledon final loomed.

Hot shots and a 13-deuce tussle: Swiatek passed up the 4-0 opportunity by netting a forehand -- and Bejlek, who had been switching up her tactics with drop shots and net play in a bid to get a foothold in the match, seized her opportunity to create some momentum. The World No. 38, who claimed her first WTA title in Abu Dhabi in February, won the best point of the match in the next game, an enthralling 19-stroke exchange in which she did not give Swiatek the same shot twice, and finished with an angled backhand pass.

With Swiatek's lead cut to 3-2, the Polish star had to battle through a marathon 13-deuce game to prevent Bejlek from leveling the score. It featured both spectacular winners and cheap mistakes as both players' form oscillated; Swiatek managed to save nine break points before finally converting her sixth game point as Bejlek sent a forehand long.

"Honestly, I didn't know it was that long," Swiatek said. "When I was playing, I didn't really feel that. But for sure I knew that she missed some opportunities, I missed some opportunities. I really wanted to be solid for just two points in a row to win it, because at the end that's what you need to win a game when it's like deuce/advantage, deuce/advantage, you know. I knew that I can for sure use the opportunities, because two or three of them I just missed, it was my mistake. I knew that I can just come back to being solid, and she helped me a little bit to close it."

Having emerged from that tussle, Swiatek managed to get over the line safely, sealing her third match point when a dead net cord went in her favor. However, her tally of 24 unforced errors in the second set is a statistic she'll aim to improve on when she faces Viktorija Golubic, who upset No. 31 seed Donna Vekic 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, in the third round.

wtatennis.com

First set felt like vintage Iga. 2nd set things got a bit complicated in the 6th game. But the fact that Iga won a crazy 21 minute game saving 9 break points felt encouraging.

Sure some might say that it was a lack of focus, the forehand completely going off and rushing once her opponent picked up her level.

But I'm choosing to look at the positives, because for 9 games Iga was flawless.

And I just missed her on tour so damn much.

Winning that game might give her some belief that she can still really hang in there even when things start to go awry as long as she stays calm and problem solves.

The first 9 games remined me how she still truly is one of the best returners on tour.

And when everything is clicking, forehand, serve etc she still is just an absolute treat to watch.

I'm genuinely looking forward to watching her more this week.

Welcome back Iga.

40 - Iga Swiatek hs claimed her 40th set with 6-0 score line in Tier1/WTA-1000 events, only Martina Hingis (52) and Serena Williams (50) would have more since the format's introduction in 1990. Fire.

2 - Since the WTA-1000 format’s introduction in 2009, only Serena Williams (80.4%) holds a better career winning percentage than Iga Swiatek (79.8%, 139-35) in such events. Marching.