![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/610X150-Slide_PRO-PLAYER_5-21-26.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cElena, congrats for a great tournament,\u201d Swiatek said. \u201cYou\u2019re such a great competitor. It\u2019s always tough to play against you. We played many important matches against each other and I\u2019m sure we\u2019re gonna play many, many more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beating a lethargic Rybakina to the ball, an energized Swiatek won 13 of 22 points played on the Kazakh\u2019s second serve and converted four of five break points.<\/p>\n
Stamina was a factor before a ball was struck.<\/p>\n
Australian Open champion Rybakina repelled Coco Gauff, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in a semifinal that ended shortly after 1 a.m. today.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How would Rybakina respond from the fast turnaround\u2014and her fourth three-set win of the tournament? Rybakina was a half-step slow to the ball and couldn\u2019t consistently challenge the swift Swiatek in extending running rallies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I was just very tired. You could see that I wasn\u2019t pushing with the legs enough,\u201d Rybakina said. \u201cThere was a lot of unforced errors, especially on top of the net. It was just pure lack of concentration. Even on those kind of easy balls, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, yeah, of course, Iga, she\u2019s a tough opponent, and she was trying to get all the balls back, of course. So, yeah, it was difficult for me today, and, yeah, I just hope that I takeall the lessons and somehow next time going to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Understandably sluggish at the outset, Rybakina dumped successive double faults to gift-wrap the break in the opening game. Swiatek backed up the break holding at 30 for a quick 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Swiatek\u2019s skill changing direction came into play. Stepping in, the Pole spun a heavy topspin forehand down the line scoring her second break with a shout for a 5-2 lead after 26 minutes of play.<\/p>\n
The six-time Grand Slam champion slid a serve winner down the T capping a love hold to close a superb opening set in 29 minutes.<\/p>\n
Playing for her first WTA 1000 title since the 2023 Rome, Rybakina left the court for a bathroom break to regroup following the first set.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Swiatek never let the Australian Open champion impose her game and continued to run Rybakina into the corners.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s playing really well in defense. She can take the opportunity during the rally and turn it around,\u201d Rybakina said. \u201cAs I said, for me, I feel like it was more from my side that I wasn\u2019t playing aggressive enough. I was not with the energy enough to play against her. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know she\u2019s a fighter, and she can run left and right much longer than me. We have different style of the game, so I couldn\u2019t show my style at my best. I tried really until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spreading the court with her twisting topspin forehand, Swiatek was bending the ball into the corners forcing the 6\u2019 Kazakh to sometimes chase on the run. Swiatek banged out the break at 15 in the fifth game then spun a forehand down the line that helped her confirm the break for 4-2.<\/p>\n
Imposing her edge in running rallies, Swiatek swept a crosscourt forehand strike aor a second championship point. Pushing Rybakina side to side, Swiatek stepped in and bolted a backhand winner down the line to close a masterful 75-minute triumph.<\/p>\n
A fired-up Swiatek pointed her index finger to her temple signifying her mental toughness taking her first title of this 2026 season.<\/p>\n
Returning to the winner\u2019s circle, Swiatek explained her finals dominance simply: She\u2019s all in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess if I\u2019m in the final it means that my game is good, and that gives me confidence, for sure. It means also that I play, like, some matches, some were probably tough, some were not,\u201d Swiatek said. \u201cSo I know, I just know what to do, I\u2019m already in the rhythm, and I guess the focus, and not letting your head go to places where it can distract you to be in the final, you know, and you can feel the pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to go all in if you want to win the tournament because you\u2019re going to face the best player in
the final. So just trying to focus on that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, August 13, 2026Photo credit: National Bank Open Facebook Bouncing on her toes like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-857548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}