Swiatek Wins One Serve Point in Set One, Still Beats Kostyuk

When the serve disappears completely

The numbers from the opening set of Iga Swiatek's fourth-round match at the National Bank Open in Toronto were extraordinary: one point won from seventeen on serve — one from eleven on first delivery and zero from six on second — and four consecutive service breaks. Marta Kostyuk closed out the opener 6-3 in little over half an hour, looking every bit the player in control.

What followed was a complete reversal. Swiatek returned for the second set and won it 6-1, lost her serve only once across the next two sets combined, saved nine break points, and closed out a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win in just over two hours. The seventh seed is into the quarterfinals, and the first-set disaster looks, in hindsight, like an aberration.

A score to settle from Roland Garros

This win carried particular weight. Kostyuk, seeded tenth, had beaten Swiatek at Roland Garros 2026 — one of the most painful losses of a difficult recent stretch for the Pole. Toronto was the first meeting since that defeat and, despite everything that happened in the first set, Swiatek found a way to prevail.

"In the second I came out playing a bit faster and more heavy, and pushing Marta a little bit more," Swiatek said after the match. "I knew I could keep being solid while doing that."

The win also ended a seven-match losing run in three-set matches against opponents ranked inside the top twenty. The final game summarised the difficulty of that streak: five deuces, six match points required. Kostyuk earned a break chance at 4-0 in the third set that would have pulled the match back to level. Swiatek saved it and did not face another break point before closing out the match.

Tactical adjustment decides it

The difference between the two halves of the match was in how Swiatek set up her rallies. In the first set she played conservatively and gave Kostyuk time on the ball. From the second set on, she took the ball earlier and pushed her opponent further behind the baseline. Kostyuk, who had dominated the first set, found herself suddenly on the defensive without the time or space to construct her own patterns. The tactical pivot was immediately visible: Swiatek dropped only three games in the entire final two sets.

Shnaider next on Monday

Swiatek's quarterfinal opponent will be Diana Shnaider, the fifteenth seed, who beat Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-3 for her first career victory over the American in five attempts. Their only previous meeting went to Swiatek in three sets on clay in Madrid; Toronto's hard courts could alter the equation significantly. Shnaider has been hitting the ball cleanly all week and arrives in the last eight with considerable momentum.

Elsewhere in the draw, Elina Svitolina advanced past Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-4 and will face Ekaterina Alexandrova — who eliminated Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday — in the other quarterfinal bracket. With Sabalenka and Pegula already gone, Monday's draw at the National Bank Open is genuinely wide open.