Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek captured her first title of the season with a swift 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in the Canadian Open final, giving her a significant confidence boost heading into the US Open.
The final, held in Toronto, saw Swiatek display sharp and fast tennis on the hard court. The crowd, waving Polish flags, chanted “Iga! Iga!” throughout the match, as Swiatek celebrated her first final at this tune-up event for the US Open.
However, Swiatek admitted to feeling angry after the win, telling Canadian network Sportsnet that she has faced criticism from media back home amid an inconsistent season, which saw her fail to advance beyond the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam and replace her coach.
“I think that's the first time in my life I have something like that after a victory, but it hasn't been easy, you know,” said Swiatek. “I'm happy that I kept my composure, kept my focus, and I keep growing every month no matter what the challenges, and I'm super proud I could win this one.”
The first set saw Rybakina commit 12 unforced errors and get broken twice, while Swiatek saved two break points to take command. Rybakina, the world number two, struggled to strike the ball cleanly and could not weaponise her serve, managing just one ace in the match.
Swiatek broke Rybakina again in the second set to take a 3-2 lead, and despite dropping the next game, she closed out the final three games with confidence, landing a clean strike on match point to end her title drought.
“If she plays her best game, she's probably better than everyone,” Swiatek told reporters of Rybakina. “You need to use all the opportunities; you can't let yourself make mistakes or bad decisions.”
Fatigue had finally caught up with Rybakina, who played three hours more than Swiatek at the tournament, as her previous three matches went to three sets. “I was just very tired. You could see that I wasn't pushing with the legs enough,” Rybakina said. “There were a lot of unforced errors, especially on top of the net. It was just a pure lack of concentration.”
With the Canadian title, world number eight Swiatek will return to the top five in the rankings.
Source: www.aljazeera.com