Iga Swiatek is heading into the WTA 1000 Canadian Open in Toronto with a clear mission: fix the fundamentals. After a turbulent 2026 season that has seen her slide to eighth in the WTA Live Rankings, the four-time French Open champion is treating the hard-court swing as a workshop rather than just a results chase.
Swiatek has reached only one semi-final across her first ten singles events this year. The low points were painful. She was beaten 7-5, 6-1 by Marta Kostyuk at Roland Garros, and then fell to Alex Eala 7-6(11), 6-2 in the third round at Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion. Those exits have left her sitting just 80 points above world No. 9 Elina Svitolina and 183 points clear of No. 10 Amanda Anisimova, meaning her top-ten standing is genuinely at risk.
In response to the struggles, Swiatek parted ways with coach Wim Fissette after 18 months and brought in Francisco Roig, who spent nearly two decades alongside Rafael Nadal and was part of all 22 of the Spaniard's Grand Slam title campaigns. Toronto marks their first hard-court tournament together.
Speaking at the draw ceremony, Swiatek explained her mindset. She noted that the lead-up to clay and grass seasons left little time for deep technical work, but the longer preparation block before the North American swing has allowed her and Roig to dig into the changes he wants to implement. She described focusing on the "technical stuff" as her main priority for the coming weeks.
She opens against either Wang Xinyu or Sara Bejlek, with Donna Vekic potentially waiting in round three and Kostyuk possibly lurking in round four. TennisDraw users picking Swiatek to go deep will be watching closely to see if the Roig effect starts clicking on hard courts.
