Swiatek Rallies Past Kostyuk into Toronto QF

By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, August 8, 2026
Photo credit: National Bank Open Facebook

One-set deficits were sink holes for Iga Swiatek throughout much of the season.

Down a set to red-hot Marta Kostyuk today, Swiatek created a springboard.

Moving faster and hitting harder, Swiatek roared back to life in a stirring comeback.

World No. 8 Swiatek fought off Kostyuk 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 avenging her Roland Garros fourth-round loss to the Ukrainian—and becoming the first woman to advance to the Toronto quarterfinals.

A fired-up Swiatek pumped her first and screamed in triumph after a hard-fought comeback.

“I was just proud of myself and happy with the performance,” Swiatek said afterward. “It was an intense match.

“Even though the scoreline was maybe not so close, but every point, like, we fought for every ball. There weren’t many free points.

“And if we both made some mistakes it was because the other one was pushing. It’s not like we just played stupid or something, you know.

“So, at the end I was just happy that I was the one that was more solid and improved my game until the end.”

It was Swiatek’s first comeback win from a set down since last February when she fended off Daria Kasatkina 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in Doha. Swiatek snapped a seven-match losing streak versus Top 20 opponents in three setters. 

Continuing her hunt for her first final of the season, Swiatek will play 15th-seeded Diana Shnaider for a semifinal spot.

The left-handed Shnaider upset world No. 3 Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-3.

It was Shnaider’s first win over 2024 US Open finalist Pegula in five career meetings . World No. 17 Shnaider avenged a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Pegula in the Washington, DC semifinals earlier this month.

“We played a couple of times. Every time is so tough,” Shnaider told Tennis Channel’s Mark Knowles. “She’s an amazing player. Today, was obviously super tricky to the win. I just tried to use it in my favor tried to use more variety, more slices, more spin.

“I feel like obviously this week I’ve been very comfortable defending and just firing some winners so I feel like it was working well. Overall, I was just trying to realize from which side the wind was coming so where I could rip it and where I could kind of push it in the court”.

It’s the sixth quarterfinal of the season for Swiatek, who snapped Kostyuk’s streak of seven straight wins in three-set matches.

After Kostyuk punished her serve like a pinata in the opening set, Swiatek struck her serve with more confidence, saving all eight break points she faced in the second and third sets.

Swiatek saved two break points serving out the match, closing a grueling 10-and-a-half minute final game on her sixth match point when Kostyuk netted a backhand return to end it in two hours, 11 minutes. 

Four straight service breaks opened today’s rematch of the Roland Garros fourth round.

Serving for the set, Kostyuk dug out of a triple break point hole. 

The former No. 1 earned a fourth break point, but netted a backhand return. Kostyuk swept the slider serve wide for set point. 

A tame drop shot from Kostyuk sat up and Swiatek swooped in with plenty of time for the pass only to knock a backhand wide. 

Remarkably, Kostyuk won 16 of 17 points played on Swiatek’s serve, including all six second serve points, in the 40 minute opener. Kostyuk hammered out three breaks at love in the set.

 After a bathroom break, the 2025 Cincinnati champion returned to the court striking the ball with more conviction and serving at higher speeds.

“I think that the speed of my serve was not high enough, but she was also returning well,” Swiatek said. “It’s not like I was beating myself up. It was more like, I know she’s a great returner, she’s putting pressure especially on the second serve of the opponent, and sometimes she was risking it and it was going in.

“So, yeah, I mean, I knew I need to serve better if I want to win the match, but I also knew that if I just continue being solid she may do some mistakes sometimes. So, you know, so, yeah, in the second and third it was just better level of serving.”

Hitting her second serve deeper in the box, Swiatek rallied from 15-30 down to hold and start the second set. Swiatek saved a couple of break points holding for 3-0. 

Moving the ball corner to corner, Swiatek won eight of nine points extending her lead to 5-1 as the Ukrainian’s forehand was failing her at times. 

The seventh-seeded Swiatek saved three break points in a draining five-deuce game before converting her fourth set point with the slider serve. Swiatek snatched the second set to force a decider after 82 minutes of play. The Pole won 22 of 34 service points and denied all five break points she faced in the second set.

Riding that momentum, Swiatek rattled out a couple of wild forehand errors scoring the love break to start the third set.

Though the red-hot Kostyuk has delivered a break-out season, including capturing the Madrid championship and reaching the Roland Garros semifinals, she couldn’t consistently keep the ball between the lines at crunch time today.

Swiatek won two of the first four games of the decider at love for 3-1. Swiatek saved another break point, extending her lead to 5-1.

Credit Kostyuk for going down fighting. The Ukrainian fought off five match points in the final game that was longest of the set. 

On her fifth match point, Swiatek was in prime position at net but blocked a backhand volley long. Swiatek saved a second break point in the game bolting a backhand winner and finally closed on her sixth match point when Kostyuk couldn’t clear net with a backhand return.