Canadian Open: Clara Tauson knocks out Swiatek and reaches quarter-finals

Clara Tauson got her revenge. One month after being swept aside by Iga Swiatek in the fourth round at Wimbledon (6-4, 6-1), the Danish player turned the tables on Sunday night in Montreal. She took down the world No. 2 in straight sets (7-6[0], 6-3) to advance to the quarter-finals of the Canadian WTA 1000.

At 22 years old, and currently ranked No. 19 in the world, Tauson continues her impressive rise on hard courts and delivered her most significant result yet at WTA 1000 level. She had cruised through her first two rounds, dropping just six games combined against Lucia Bronzetti and Yuliia Starodubtseva, but had to raise her game significantly to stop a red-hot Swiatek on a nine-match winning streak.

By breaking early, Tauson initially took control, but Swiatek managed to level the score in the first set. Still, the Dane delivered a one-sided tiebreak (7-0). On the other side of the net, Swiatek—less sharp than usual—never really found her rhythm from the baseline. The second set followed a similar script: Tauson quickly built a 4-1 lead, conceded a break, but immediately regained the upper hand to seal the match without hesitation.

It’s her second straight win over a top player.

This marks Tauson’s second career win over a Top 5 player—and her second this season. “I mean, it’s my second win like that in my career and second win like that in this year. So obviously it’s really great, and it shows all the hard work I’ve been doing has been the right thing. I think I’m getting more confidence in this kind of level and feeling like I belong here a bit more. I think that really helped me today in the important moments,” she said in her post-match press conference.

Swiatek, who had looked solid in her opening wins over Hanyu Guo and Eva Lys, exits the tournament early and misses the chance to reclaim the world No. 2 ranking.

Tauson will now face Madison Keys in the quarter-finals, with her confidence sky-high and nothing to lose.

Montreal WTA 1000, other last 16 results (IGA Stadium, hard, USD 5.152.599, most recent results first):

• Amanda Anisimova vs. Elina Svitolina
• Naomi Osaka beat Anastasija Sevastova: 6-1, 6-0
• Madison Keys beat Karolina Muchova (11): 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Lin Zhu: 7-5, 1-6, 6-2
• Victoria Mboko (WC) beat Coco Gauff (1): 6-1, 6-4
• Elena Rybakina (9) beat Dayana Yastremska (30): 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
• Marta Kostyuk (24) beat McCartney Kessler (28): 5-7, 6-3, 6-3