TORONTO — Iga Swiatek is soaring into the semifinals at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
The Polish superstar dispatched Diana Shnaider in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1 on Centre Court at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto on Monday night. Two days after requiring three sets to squeak past 10th-ranked Marta Kostyuk, the former world No. 1 cruised past the No. 15-ranked Shnaider in just 64 minutes.
Now, Swiatek — ranked No. 7 at the NBO — is into just her second semifinal of 2026 and will face ninth-ranked Elina Svitolina on Wednesday.
“This tournament is looking better than most of the tournaments I’ve played this season,” Swiatek said on court after the win. “So I’m just trying to appreciate it, be grateful about having another opportunity to play in this stadium. I’m really enjoying myself.”
She’s certainly feeling better than she was early on against Kostyuk. Since dropping the first set of that match 6-3, Swiatek has really found her rhythm, losing a total of just six games while winning four consecutive sets.
“There’s not like one particular thing,” Swiatek said when asked what’s clicked for her. “Especially (since) both of the opponents that I faced were so different. But I feel like maybe with (Kostyuk) I was able to just clearly see what I did wrong instead of being so caught up with the mistakes. Today I just followed the plan. I was really focused. I feel like I’m for sure better focused. I’m able to follow the plan a little bit easier because I feel the ball (well) on my racquet.”
Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, looked as strong out of the gate as Shnaider did wobbly. The latter double-faulted on the first point of the match, and Swiatek was able to break Shnaider easily from there to take a 1-0 advantage. Each player held serve in the next five games, but Swiatek broke Shnaider a second time to go up 5-2 and held serve in the next game to close out the set.
Each player held serve to begin the second set, but Swiatek won a crucial break to go up 2-1 in a game that twice went to deuce. At that juncture, it was quite clear neither the gusty setting nor the left-handed opponent was going to throw Swiatek off her game.
“Well, I think I adjusted well to the conditions,” she said. “It got quite windy. Probably the most wind I had on my match during the whole tournament, so it wasn’t easy. I adjusted also to the lefty spin well. I tried to open the court pretty (well).”
After scoring a huge upset over third-ranked Jessica Pegula in the round of 16, Shnaider did not bring her best game. The 22-year-old struggled to keep her forehand on target and won just 51 per cent of her first-serve points compared to 88 per cent for Swiatek.
Certainly, the serve that had been a weapon for her to this point in the NBO was nowhere near where she needed it to be against Swiatek. Already down one break in the second, Shnaider had to come through in the fifth game to have any kind of chance. Instead, Swiatek was able to break her for the second time in the set and take complete control of the match by winning a long rally to close out the game.
“Well, at this particular point, I think I guessed pretty well where she’s going to play, that she’s going to go forehand down the line,” said Swiatek, who also reached the NBO semis in 2023. “I read the point well, that gave me an advantage. But why? Well, I don’t know. I just, for sure I want to fight till the end of every point. There are matches where the opponent is, for example, up attacking so fast that you know it’s going to be a winner or unforced error, but you know you’re not going to get there, and you’re not going to play it back. Today I felt like I can do it. Sometimes when I was not so sure, I could (still) guess. So, sometimes it was luck. Sometimes it was just fighting until the end. And at the end, that’s what made my game solid, that I could also get points from defence, so I’m really happy about that.”
By her lofty standards, 2026 has not been a stellar year for Swiatek. As such, she split with former coach Wim Fissette in April and is now being guided by Francis Roig. With the summer hardcourt season here and fresh tutelage taking hold, Swiatek may finally be hitting her stride.
“You know, playing on clay, and with all this fuss around that I usually have there, sometimes it’s not helping,” she said. “So I didn’t have so much clarity in my head to always keep doing the stuff that (Roig) wanted me to do. Here, I feel like it’s already got more into my habit and it became more natural. That’s definitely how I want to play, to have this patience. I feel like I was playing a little bit too flat and too fast sometimes last year, making risky decisions. This is more my game, what I’m trying to do now is more my game.”
The result speaks for itself.