Swiatek dominates Shnaider to set up Toronto semi with Svitolina

Former world number one Iga Swiatek cruised into the Toronto Masters semi-finals on Monday to set up a clash with Elina Svitolina who fought back from a set down to reach the last four.

Poland’s Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, took just 64 minutes to sweep past Russia’s Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-1.

Ukraine’s Svitolina, the ninth seed, beat Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.

Swiatek reached just her second WTA semi-final this year after Rome and is seeking her first final appearance since winning the Korea Open almost a year ago in Seoul.

“From the beginning I went for it. I felt like I could dominate,” Swiatek said after dropping just three points on her first serve.

“I was quite happy with the way I played. It was a tricky match with the wind.

“I thought I needed to adjust to that. I just wanted to be more solid,” added the 25-year-old world number eight.

Svitolina won eight consecutive games after losing the first set on the way to dispatching Alexandrova in 93 minutes.

Swiatek leads Svitolina 4-3 in their WTA career rivalry, but lost both their meetings this year.

“I’m gonna talk with my team to adjust a little bit for Iga’s game,” said Svitolina.

“Of course she’s a great champion. She plays really well this tournament. I have to bring my best.”

Swiatek established a 5-2 lead in the first set when she broke Shnaider a second time, courtesy of the Russian netting a backhand, and served out to take it in 31 minutes.

The Pole broke for a 2-1 lead in the second when Shnaider netted. A forehand winner gave Swiatek a 4-1 lead and a third break sealed victory.

Svitolina had more of a battle after sending a backhand long on serve to drop an evenly matched first set.

It fired up the Ukrainian who reeled off four breaks to blank Alexandrova in the second set and take a 2-0 lead in the third.

Svitolina served for the match in the eighth game of the final set only for a double fault to allow Alexandrova a lifeline.

But a pumped-up Svitolina roared back, broke to love and finished the match with a searing return winner.

“Very pleased with my performance. With the fighting spirit,” said Svitolina.

“She was playing really well in the first set. I had to really step into like a fighting mode.”