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FIRST TITLE OF YEAR IN HAND, POLE UNFAZED BY TORONTO TURNAROUND By Richard Osborn It was a feat perhaps even more impressive than her title run at the National Bank Open north of the border. Not yet 24 hours removed from raising the trophy in Toronto’s Sobeys Stadium, Iga Swiatek sat some 470 miles away in Mason, Ohio, the gathered media and a Cincinnati Open title defense spread out before her. No rest for the weary. “We just packed up, went to the airport, and that’s it, I’m here,” said Swiatek on the heels of her 12th WTA 1000 title, courtesy of a 6-2, 6-3 decision over second-ranked Elena Rybakina. “The schedule is intense. There’s no time to celebrate. But it’s OK, I’ll find time to appreciate what happened and be grateful for it. Without that, it doesn’t make sense to keep going. You need to get a taste of these moments and remember them.” It marked Swiatek’s first title of the year. An extended, post-Wimbledon training block with newly hired coach Francisco Roig paid off for the Pole, now the only player to win a WTA 1000 trophy in each of the last six seasons. “It was great. It was all I needed,” she said. “I had time to reset after Wimbledon, and I came back on the courts much fresher and much more open to trying new stuff. We had two weeks. The work that we did there was a key to playing better in Toronto, to playing a game that is more patient. I was able to grind more, be more solid.” As she embarks on her title defense here at the Linder Family Tennis Center, knowing that her last chance at a major in 2026 in only days down the road in Flushing Meadows, how will she stay fresh? How will she make sure doesn’t run out of steam before the US Open? “We’ll see,” she said with a smile. “There’s no one recipe that you can just follow. I have my team around me. They know what’s best for me. They observe me. When it’s the time to focus more on recovery or on practice, we’ll take it day by day and focus on the next step.” Swiatek had some choice words for the naysayers during the trophy ceremony in Canada, aimed at the online hate she says she and her team regularly receive. “I want to dedicate this title to anyone who’s dealing with unfair judgement and hate,” she told the crowd. “Just keep pushing and keep growing. Keep focusing on yourself. You know what’s best for you. Always remember what’s ahead and what might be possible.” Surprisingly, much of that online vitriol, she says, originates from what should be her most ardent support base: Poland. Why is that the case? “That’s an interesting question, I think, for a sociologist,” said the former No. 1. “It’s not only Poland, but in Great Britain, as well, in different countries. Last month [following her third-round loss to Alexandra Eala at Wimbledon], I faced it, my team faced it. My goal was not for it to interrupt my process and define who I am. It’s just the world that we live in, and it shouldn’t be like that. I took yesterday’s opportunity to just talk about it.” The first Polish player in the Open Era to win the Cincinnati Open (def. Jasmine Paolini, 7-5, 6-4), the seventh seed Swiatek will now try to win her second straight WTA 1000 title, haters be damned.