Swiatek to face Svitolina in Canadian Open semifinal

Former world no 1 Iga Swiatek cruised past Diana Shnaider to set up a clash with Elina Svitolina in Toronto.Iga Swiatek swept past Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-1 on Monday to reach the Canadian Open semifinals, where the Pole will face Elina ⁠Svitolina after the Ukrainian rallied past Ekaterina Alexandrova in Toronto.It was a confidence-boosting display ahead of the US Open for former world number one Swiatek, who won one of her six Grand Slam ⁠titles at Flushing Meadows in 2022.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Trump says ousting FIFA boss Infantino would be ‘terrible’ mistakelist 2 of 4Somali referee arrives for UEFA Super Cup after World Cup exclusionlist 3 of 4Palestinian club football to restart in September after Gaza war suspensionlist 4 of 4Barca eye three-peat as Mourinho back at Madrid in new La Liga seasonend of listSwiatek was in complete control against Shnaider, combining crisp ball striking with strong court coverage to overwhelm her Russian opponent in 68 minutes.She broke twice in the opening set, capitalising on a string of mistakes by Shnaider, who committed 12 unforced errors.Swiatek took a 5-2 ‌lead when Shnaider sent a forehand into the net and secured the set after another error from the Russian.There was little respite for Shnaider in the second set as seventh-seed Swiatek continued to dictate play from the baseline and never faced a break point.The Pole sealed a second break of the set for a 5-1 lead with a sharply angled cross-court winner that clipped the line, before wrapping up the contest when Shnaider sent a forehand long ⁠on match point.The win puts Swiatek into her first WTA 1000 semifinal ⁠of an inconsistent season in which she has failed to advance beyond the quarters at a Grand Slam and suffered a surprise second-round defeat by compatriot Magda Linette in Miami.That loss led Swiatek to make a coaching change, replacing Wim Fissette ⁠with Francisco Roig.Swiatek was also beaten in straight sets by Alexandra Eala in the third round at Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion.Swiatek serves to Diana Shnaider during their quarterfinal matchup [Matthew Stockman/Getty via AFP]Comeback winSvitolina ⁠leapt into the air and pumped her fist in triumph ⁠after completing a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 comeback win against her Russian opponent to set up a Wednesday meeting with Swiatek, whom she beat in the Rome semifinals in May.