Iga Swiatek secured her first WTA title of the season with a straight-set victory over Elena Rybakina in the final of the Canadian Open. Swiatek, ranked world number eight, beat world number two Rybakina 6-2, 6-3 in Toronto.
This victory marks Swiatek's 26th career title and comes after a challenging period for the Polish player. "It means so, so much to me because the past months were not easy," Swiatek stated after the match. She had not won a WTA title this season prior to the Canadian Open. Her previous best Grand Slam performance this year was reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Rybakina, the Australian Open champion, struggled with unforced errors in the opening set, committing 12. Swiatek capitalized, breaking Rybakina's serve twice while saving two break points herself. In the second set, Rybakina was unable to break Swiatek's serve, and the match concluded in one hour and 15 minutes.
Swiatek acknowledged the difficulties of managing external criticism while striving for peak performance. "I'm really happy that I kept focusing on growing, changing my game a little bit, improving despite all the opinions that many people have about me every day on the internet," she said. "It's not easy to deal with all of that."
In April, Swiatek added Francisco Roig, who previously coached Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu, to her coaching team. The US Open is scheduled to begin later this month, where Swiatek will aim to win her first Grand Slam title since her victory at Wimbledon last year. She reached the fourth round of the French Open and the third round of Wimbledon this year.