Rybakina and Swiatek both fight through to set up Toronto final decider
Elena Rybakina beat Coco Gauff 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and Iga Swiatek beat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to set up a Toronto final between two players tied 6-6 head-to-head, Rybakina having won the last two meetings, with both arriving having fought back from a set down at some point this week.
Elena Rybakina, Toronto 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Kazakh second seed Elena Rybakina and Pole Iga Swiatek, the No. 7 seed, both battled into the final of the National Bank Open on Thursday night, setting up a rematch of a rivalry tied at 6-6, with Rybakina having won the last two meetings, most recently in the Australian Open quarter-final in January.
Rybakina beat American Coco Gauff, the No. 4 seed, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, coming from a set down for the third time in the tournament. She had already recovered from a double break down in the third set against Liudmila Samsonova and from a set and 2-4 down against Naomi Osaka earlier in the week. She’s only the fourth player in the Open Era to win four three-set matches on the way to a Canadian Open final, after Lina Krasnoroutskaya in 2003, Venus Williams in 2014 and Bianca Andreescu in 2019.
Asked, at close to 1 a.m., how she had maintained focus after 11 and a half hours on court across the tournament, Rybakina pointed to instinct as much as preparation. “I feel like I stayed so many hours on the court that maybe some shots are just coming out from my racquet. Also at important moments I got a bit lucky with the line on the return. I was just trying to fight.”
Rybakina’s track record on hard court
It was Rybakina’s seventh qualification for a WTA 1000 final and her fourth of the season, extending her hard-court record this year to 26-5. She had also beaten Osaka 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, Samsonova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 and No. 28 seed Ann Li 6-2, 7-5 and Australian Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the final.
Swiatek beat Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No. 9 seed, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to reach her first final of the season and her first at this event, a run that snapped a barren stretch without a title match since Seoul last year. “It hasn’t been an easy season, probably the toughest one in my life,” she said afterward. “This week has been really positive and inspirational for me. It kind of shows that you need to keep going no matter what.”
It was Swiatek’s 14th WTA 1000 final and the 31st of her career at just 25. Swiatek, ranked No. 8, had beaten No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-1, No. 10 seed Marta Kostyuk 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, Swiss Viktorija Golubic 6-2, 6-1 and Czech Sara Bejlek 6-0, 6-3 to reach the final.
