Iga Swiatek believes she is back on track with the help of coach Francisco Roig after easing into the semi-finals of the Canadian Open.
The former world No.1 spent just over an hour on court during her 6-2, 6-1 dismissal of 15th seed Diana Shnaider. Swiatek, who has dropped one set in four matches so far in the tournament, won 23 of 26 points on her first serve and didn’t face a break point against the Russian. The victory is her 101st over a top 20 player on the Tour.
Swiatek entered Toronto looking to regain some momentum after a disappointing grass swing, in which she lost in the first round of the Bad Homburg Open and in the third round at Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion. It is only the second time this season she has reached the last four of a WTA event after the Italian Open in May.
As for the key to her recent wins, Swiatek says it is a combination of being aggressive whilst also being patient during rallies. A tactic she has been working on with Roig, who was the former mentor of Rafael Nadal before joining the Pole’s team earlier this year.
“That was the goal from the beginning when I started working with Francis,” Swiatek told reporters following her latest win.
“Playing on clay, and with all this fuss around that I usually have there, sometimes it’s not helping. So I didn’t have somuch clarity in my head to always keep doing the stuff that he wanted me to do.
“Here (at the Canadian Open), I feel like it’s already gotten more into my habit and it became more natural. That’s definitely how I want to play, to have this patience.”
Swiatek, who has won six major titles so far in her career, acknowledges there were issues with parts of her game last season. Even through she won a trio of titles during 2025 and is yet to contest a final this year.
“I feel like I was playing a little bit too flat and too fast sometimes last year, making risky decisions,” she explained.
“The work with Francis that we’re doing for sure helps, and I feel like the most stressful part of the season is over.”
Currently ranked eighth in the world, Swiatek is hoping to make more progress on the hardcourts in the coming weeks. She has won 14 out of her 25 WTA titles on the surface, including the 2022 US Open.
“I feel good on hard courts. I feel like I won many tournaments on hard courts,” she said.
The next test for Swiatek will be 2017 champion Elina Svitolina, who defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. The Ukrainian has won 10 consecutive matches at WTA 1000 events, which makes her only the second player to do so after their 30th birthday since the series was introduced in 2009. The first was Serena Williams.
“The things that I can control are my mindset and taking one point at a time,” Svitolina said of facing Swiatek.
“It’s going to be about trying to find the keys in that game and trying to find the particular patterns that are going to work against her.
“We are at the highest level of women’s tennis. Everybody knows how to hit forehand and backhand. It’s about putting another pattern against each other, and trying to perform as best as possible on that day.”
Swiatek leads Svitolina 4-3 in their head-to-head.
