"I knew I could do better" - Iga Swiatek finds that extra gear as WTA final drought ended

Iga Swiatek looks to have found her mojo on court once more. The six-time Grand Slam champion has reached her first WTA final in almost a year following a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina to set up a final showdown against Elena Rybakina in the Canadian Open.

The Pole has ticked off another WTA 1000 tournament that she has made the final in, with just the Wuhan Open left to reach the climax of. This run is a timely one based on what is at stake in the coming weeks and what had occurred these prior months.

Following a catastrophic Wimbledon title defence that saw her dumped out in the third round against an inspired Alexandra Eala, Swiatek needed to take some time away from the court, physically resting and mentally preparing for what will be a hugely important period on court. She was bracing herself for a possible plummet down the WTA Rankings if her North American hardcourt swing went wayward, but she has got off to the perfect start in Toronto.

The seventh seed has dropped just two sets in victories over Sara Bejlek, Viktorija Golubic, Marta Kostyuk, Diana Shnaider and most impressively Elina Svitolina. There has been struggles, including winning one service point in the opening set of her match against Kostyuk, but it has been how she has reacted to these setbacks which is why she is in a 14th WTA 1000 final with a 12th title just one win away.

Coming into the match, Svitolina had played some really good tennis. It also did not help that the Ukrainian had defeated Swiatek in their two contests in 2026, the latest coming at the triumphant Rome Open.

Swiatek's struggles against top 10 players in recent times has been documented. She went into the match with one win from six matches against the best players in the world, that coming against Jessica Pegula in Rome. She has doubled that tally and at a relieving time against a tough challenger.

In her press conference, she expressed her delight to make it into the final and lauded the way she did it. "It was a difficult match. It's always complicated against Elina, so I'm happy to have won this one, especially because I managed to come back in the third set and play better. That's important progress for me, and I'm proud of myself," she said.

"I mainly wanted to improve the quality of my play, have a better strike, because tactics are useless if you don't hit the ball well. I knew I was capable, because I had done it in the first set; it was innate for me, I just needed to find the right rhythm."

In the second set, the level dropped and the 25-year-old knew that she was better than this. "I'm glad I was patient enough to achieve it and not get discouraged or give up, but on the contrary, I found a way to play better in the third set," she commented.

"I think I let her play a bit more sometimes because I hit too short. My balls lacked power, so I had to put even more energy into them if I wanted to play better in the third set. In the second set, sometimes my balls were too short and my approaches insufficient; it was simply a matter of quality, and I knew I could do better."

It is set to be a 13th meeting between Swiatek and Rybakina with the winner taking the bragging rights in terms of the head to head record, along with obviously the Canadian Open title.

Rybakina has had more joy in recent times, defeating Swiatek in the WTA Finals and Australian Open title runs. If she finds that form again, Swiatek will have her work cut out. Nevertheless, the Kazakh has played a lot of tennis and was competing until 1am against Coco Gauff in the semi-finals in a titanic scrap. that could give Swiatek the edge come this latest WTA 1000 final.