Iga Swiatek sent a strong and telling message to her critics after she ended her title drought with her victory at the 2026 Canadian Open.
The six-time Grand Slam champion defeated world No 2 Elena Rybakina in the final at the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto.
Swiatek did not lose serve and broke the big-serving Rybakina four times as she secured her maiden Canadian Open crown in dominant fashion.
The 25-year-old Pole’s triumph saw her claim her 26th WTA Tour title and first since she won the Korea Open in September last year.
In her speech during the trophy ceremony, Swiatek dedicated her title to “everyone who is dealing with unfair judgment and hate.”
“I’m really happy about this tournament. It means so, so much to me because all these past months were not easy,” said Swiatek.
“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. It’s not easy to deal with all of that.
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“So, I’m happy that the reality is different. The reality is that I have people that know me so well and people that support me every week, every day. They’re here to give their best work, and yeah, just keep pushing. So, thank you to the team that is here.
“And yeah, as I said, I want to dedicate this title to everyone who is dealing with unfair judgment and hate. Just keep pushing, keep growing, keep focusing on yourself because you know what’s the best for you.
“And always remember what’s ahead and what might be possible. So yeah, here we are (smiles).”
In her post-match press conference, Swiatek explained why she felt anger after the final.
“Well, all the things that I mentioned in the speech. Like, just the unfair judgment, and sometimes the, like, people just judging and hating,” said the world No 5.
“But it’s good to focus on how to create space for you to just focus on yourself. It’s not so easy to do that. But the best thing about this two weeks for me was that I could kind of let it go. Yeah, this anger came like after I won.
“But during the whole process I was really focused on just growing and progressing. The same happened after Wimbledon when I started practising on hard courts.
“So, for sure, I feel like I worked hard through kind of all this noise, and unnecessary noise, that’s what makes me angry. Because it shouldn’t be like that and it doesn’t need to be like that.”
