Iga Swiatek claimed her first title of the season with a dominant 6-2, 6-3 win over Elena Rybakina in the Canadian Open final.

After beating Elina Svitolina in three sets in the semi-final in Toronto, the six-time major winner lifted the lid on how difficult 2026 has been for her.

The seventh seed said, “It hasn’t been an easy season, probably the toughest one in my life. This week has been really positive and inspirational for me, and it always kind of shows that you need to keep going no matter what.”

Now, things have got even better for the Pole after seeing off the Australian Open champion on Thursday.

Swiatek claimed her 12th WTA 1000 crown, moving her past Aryna Sabalenka’s 11, and into second in the all-time list (since the format debuted in 2009). Now only Serena Williams (13) stands ahead of her.

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At the trophy ceremony, Swiatek was able to get something off her chest after a difficult year or so since winning the 2025 Wimbledon title.

“I want to dedicate this title to everyone who is dealing with unfair judgement and hate,” she said. “Just keep pushing, keep growing, keep focusing on yourself because you know what’s best for you. And always remember what’s ahead and what might be possible.”

Sweet Victory 🍁@iga_swiatek defeats Rybakina in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to secure the title in Toronto!#NBO26 pic.twitter.com/tyhN8Y3EtH

— wta (@WTA) August 13, 2026

In addition to claiming her first WTA 1000 title since Cincinnati last year, Swiatek is climbing up the rankings again.

The 25-year-old has jumped three spots to fifth in the live rankings after adding 880 points to her total, leaving her just 500 points behind Coco Gauff in fourth.

Swiatek has leapfrogged French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova, and Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova in the rankings, while Belinda Bencic jumps up two spots to 12th after pocketing an extra 150 points.

Diana Shnaider climbs three places after earning 205 points in Canada but the injured Victoria Mboko has lost 988 points as she was unable to defend her title.

The 19-year-old is this week’s big loser as she drops five places in the rankings to 17th. Canada runner-up Rybakina has gained ever so slightly on world No 1 Sabalenka, with the gap between the two down to 354 points.

Meanwhile, in-form Alex Eala rounds off the top 20 as we head into Cincinnati, in the final WTA 1000 event before the US Open.

Below is a full rankings breakdown of the WTA Tour’s top 20.

WTA Rankings (August 14)

1. Aryna Sabalenka, Belarus – 8,670

2. Elena Rybakina, Kazakhstan – 8,316

3. Jessica Pegula, United States – 6,680

4. Coco Gauff, United States – 5,919

5. Iga Swiatek, Poland – 5,419 (+3)

6. Mirra Andreeva, Russia – 5,324 (-1)

7. Karolina Muchova, Czechia – 5,118 (-1)

8. Linda Noskova, Czechia – 5,016 (-1)

9. Elina Svitolina, Ukraine – 4,634

10. Amanda Anisimova, United States – 4,353

11. Marta Kostyuk, Ukraine – 3,830

12. Belinda Bencic, Switzerland – 2,995 (+2)

13. Naomi Osaka, Japan – 2,846

14. Diana Shnaider, Russia – 2,798 (+3)

15. Jasmine Paolini, Italy – 2,774

16. Iva Jovic, United States – 2,691

17. Victoria Mboko, Canada – 2,532 (-5)

18. Sorana Cirstea, Romania – 2,502

19. Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia – 2,456

20. Alex Eala, Philippines – 2,216

Incidentally, in the WTA Tour Race, Rybakina has overtaken Sabalenka and leads by 212 points, with Andreeva just one point behind the Belarusian in third.

Swiatek’s title win sees her rise to 10th in the race and Bencic and Sorana Cirstea have jumped three places to 13th and 14th respectively.

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