Swiatek sinks Svitolina to set up Rybakina title clash in Toronto

Iga Swiatek will face Elena Rybakina for the Toronto tennis title, as Elina Svitolina and Coco Gauff exit in semifinals.Iga Swiatek outlasted Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 to book a Toronto title showdown with world number two Elena Rybakina.Australian Open champion Rybakina delivered another gutsy comeback on Wednesday, beating fourth-seeded Coco Gauff 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to reach Thursday’s final in the hard court warm-up for the US Open.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Barca eye three-peat as Mourinho back at Madrid in new La Liga seasonlist 2 of 4Top 10 players to watch in the 2026-27 European football seasonlist 3 of 4Hockey World Cup 2026: India-Pakistan blockbuster headlines tournament drawlist 4 of 4Poland says Women’s World Cup plan on course despite UEFA boycott of FIFAend of listFormer world number one Swiatek, seeded seventh, is in her first final of the year, having last lifted a trophy in Seoul almost a year ago.She improved to 5-3 against Svitolina, who had narrowed their head-to-head record with two wins over the Polish star this year.In a match delayed more than an hour by rain, six-time major champion Swiatek raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening set.The Ukrainian made Swiatek work to serve it out, saving a pair of set points in the final game of the first.Energised, she raced through the second set before Swiatek rebounded in the third, breaking Svitolina to love for a 5-3 lead before holding serve to secure the win.“Against Elina it’s always tough, so I’m happy that I won this one,” said Swiatek.“Especially that I came back in the third set playing better. So, yeah, that’s for sure a big improvement. I’m proud of myself.”Svitolina, who won the Canadian crown in 2017, was seeking her third 1000-level final of the season after winning at Rome and finishing runner-up in Dubai.But she couldn’t hang on as Swiatek upped her game again in the final set.“Mostly, I just wanted to adjust the quality,” Swiatek said. “Because tactics can’t do much if you’re just not hitting the ball right. I knew I can do it, because I did it in the first set. I’m happy that I was patient enough to do that and didn’t get disappointed or didn’t give up.”Elena Rybakina waves to fans after defeating Coco Gauff during their Toronto semifinal [Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images/Reuters]Rybakina sees off Gauff with another rallyRybakina, who also rallied from a set down to beat Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals, is on the cusp of her third title of the season after her triumph in Melbourne and a trophy in Stuttgart.