Coco Gauff's loss paves the way for Iga Swiatek to recapture No. 2 Spot – what is the new scenario for her in Canadian Open?

Iga Swiatek has the chance to return to world No. 2 after Coco Gauff's surprising fourth-round defeat at the Canadian Open. The Pole is on a nine-match winning streak and, after winning the Wimbledon title a few weeks ago, has the opportunity to reclaim the second spot in the WTA rankings.

The American entered the tournament as the first seed—after Aryna Sabalenka's absence was confirmed due to physical precautions. Gauff secured hard-fought victories against Danielle Collins and Veronika Kudermetova, both requiring a lot of struggle and forcing her to overcome constant double faults and service problems.

Gauff's journey in Montreal finally ended in the fourth round, with a loss to the 18-year-old local star Victoria Mboko—the current world No. 85. The Canadian has had a splendid tournament, reaching her first-ever WTA 1000 quarterfinals after a remarkable 6-1, 6-4 victory in just over an hour.

As a result, Gauff failed to earn many points, exiting in the fourth round just as she did in 2024. The two-time Grand Slam champion leaves the tournament with 7,789 points, still more than 850 points ahead of Swiatek (6,933), who will have the possibility this week to take the No. 2 spot from Gauff—perhaps sooner than expected.

The six-time Grand Slam champion first reached the top 2 in March 2022 after winning her first Indian Wells title, and two weeks later she reached the top of the rankings after winning the Miami Open title. Since then, she remained in the top 2—alternating only with Aryna Sabalenka—for over three years.

However, in the first part of 2025, Swiatek failed to defend several of her titles and had a less successful clay-court swing than in previous years, failing to reach any final on the surface. Precisely after the Rome Open—where she fell in the third round—she dropped to No. 5, falling out of the top two for the first time in 38 months. The 24-year-old Pole then also failed to defend her Roland Garros title, eventually falling as low as No. 8, with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff—this year's champion in Paris—occupying the top two spots in the rankings.

Swiatek managed to turn her season around during the grass-court swing, a surface that had previously been her nemesis. She first reached the final of the Bad Homburg Open—losing to Jessica Pegula—and then went on to win Wimbledon, returning to the top 3 just a week later.

She started the American hardcourt swing at the Canadian Open, still with a good points lead over Gauff. The Pole is not defending any points this week, as she did not play in Toronto last year. So far, she has secured a couple of straightforward victories against Guo Hanyu and Eva Lys, dropping just four games in each match.

Swiatek has the chance to return to No. 2, though she will have to maintain her excellent form and can only do so if she wins the Canadian Open title. The exits of Gauff (1st seed), Jessica Pegula (3rd), and Mirra Andreeva (4th) leave the Pole as the best-positioned player to win the title. Only two other top-10 seeds remain in the draw: Amanda Anisimova (5th seed, No. 7) and Madison Keys (6th seed, No. 8).

The Pole will return to the court this Sunday to face 16th seed Clara Tauson for a spot in the quarterfinals. Regardless, Swiatek still has a long way to go to return to No. 2, as she must necessarily win the title to advance in the rankings.

So far, Swiatek has won 10 WTA 1000 titles, and her best performance at the Canadian Open was in 2023, when she reached the semifinals and was eliminated by the eventual champion, Jessica Pegula.