Iga Swiatek is looking like her dominant self again, and Toronto fans are getting a front-row seat. The six-time Grand Slam champion rolled past world No. 17 Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-1 in the Canadian Open quarter-finals on Monday evening, booking a semi-final spot against world No. 9 Elina Svitolina.
The result was particularly striking given what Swiatek endured heading into Canada. Currently ranked eighth in the world, the 25-year-old Pole had lost in the third round at Wimbledon, stumbled in her opening match at Bad Homburg, and fell in the fourth round at Roland Garros across her three previous events. A difficult stretch by any measure, especially for a player of her caliber.
But in Toronto, something has clicked. Swiatek also beat Marta Kostyuk, Viktorija Golubic, and Sara Bejlek en route to what is only her second semi-final of the 2026 season. In her post-match press conference, she pointed to her partnership with coach Francis Roig as central to the turnaround, explaining that his approach of blending patience with aggression is finally feeling natural rather than forced.
"It became more natural," she said, adding that during the clay-court season the mental noise around her big events made it harder to execute consistently. With that stressful stretch now behind her, she feels freer to play the style Roig has been building with her since they began working together.
She also praised her ability to adjust against Shnaider, handling breezy conditions and the left-hander's awkward spin by opening up the court effectively throughout the match.
TennisDraw users had Swiatek projected deep into the draw this week, and so far she is making those bracket picks look very smart indeed.
