Iga Swiatek appears to have woken up from the nightmare just in time. She will enter the final stretch of the season with Serena Williams in her sights and a chance to re-establish herself as the defining player of her generation.
If the Pole maintains the form she showed in Canada and wins the US Open, she will become the first player since Williams in 2017 to win Grand Slam titles in five consecutive seasons.
She could also win the only two WTA 1000 titles still missing from her collection during the Asian swing: Beijing and Wuhan.
What makes the story remarkable is that just a couple of weeks ago, these goals seemed almost impossible. The former world No. 1 had gone 11 months without reaching a final, and her place in the Top 10 was at risk for the first time since 2021.
These past months were not easy. I’m really happy I kept focusing on growing, improving, despite all the opinions many people have about me every day on the internet. It’s not easy to deal with all of that”, she said in Toronto.
It was during her champions’ speech that she delivered a powerful message in response to the criticism she had been receiving: “I want to dedicate this title to anyone who’s dealing with unfair judgement and hate. Just keep pushing and keep growing. Keep focusing on yourself. You know what’s best for you. Always remember what’s ahead of you and what might be possible.”
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Until her triumph in Toronto, the 2023 WTA Finals champion’s season had been defined by defeats:: the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, the second round at the Miami Open, the fourth round at Roland Garros and the third round at Wimbledon.
One radical decision to try to end that poor run was bringing Spaniard Francis Roig into her team at the beginning of April. For Swiatek, her partnership with the former Rafael Nadal coach is only now starting to bear fruit.
“Serenity on court was the goal when we started working together, but during the clay-court swing I didn’t have the mental clarity to do what he wanted… now it has become a habit, something more natural. That’s the way I want to play,” she admitted in North America.
Her title in Canada changes the picture. Now she heads into a pivotal moment in the calendar with renewed momentum and a chance to show why she dominated the tour between 2022 and 2024.
A US Open victory would make her the first player since Serena Williams in 2017 to win Grand Slam titles in at least five consecutive seasons. Naomi Osaka won four between 2018 and 2021, while Aryna Sabalenka currently has three (2023-2025).
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Swiatek began that run in 2022 by winning the French Open and the US Open, before returning to claim the title in Paris in both 2023 and 2024. Last year, in another difficult season, she won Wimbledon for the first time in her career.
As for the WTA 1000 events she will play in China, winning both would leave her just one Australian Open title and an Olympic gold medal away from completing the collection of all the biggest titles available on the tour.
The big question now is whether her title in Canada can make all the doubts and problems disappear, or whether it will prove to be just one isolated week in a difficult year. The US Open could change everything in her favour, but it will not be an easy task. Since winning the title in 2022, she has been unable to go beyond the quarter-finals in New York.
A defining moment of the year for Swiatek. Either she turns things around and puts her name back at the top, or she will begin 2027 under pressure, with her era of dominance looking increasingly like a thing of the past.
