Iga Swiatek's hardcourt homecoming: Clinical victory in Montreal Open opener

Iga Swiatek returns to hardcourts in glory and majesty, securing a resounding 6-3, 6-1 victory over Chinese surprise Guo Hanyu at the Canadian Open. The world No. 3 achieves her 8th consecutive victory in a match where Swiatek's level wasn't always at its best – particularly with her serve – but she ultimately prevailed with dominant play.

Guo Hanyu (world No. 259) was undoubtedly a surprise player in the tournament. At 27 years old, she had never even entered the top 250 and managed to get through qualifying to make her WTA 1000 debut. She then surprised Yulia Putintseva (world No. 46), which was her first career win against a top-50 player. The Chinese player has had a distinguished career in doubles, winning five titles (three of them WTA 500) and a career-high ranking of No. 30.

Swiatek arrived on an impressive streak of 20 consecutive games won, considering her great Wimbledon campaign, where she took the last 8 games of her semifinal against Belinda Bencic (6-2, 6-0) and then 12 consecutive games against Amanda Anisimova in a perfect double bagel final. This time, Swiatek's streak was cut after she dominated the first four games consecutively, totaling 24 consecutive games won – an impressive statistic from the Pole.

The six-time Grand Slam champion reaches a remarkable 115 victories in WTA 1000 tournaments and, for the 27th consecutive time, successfully navigates her debut in a tournament of this category.

First Set: Swiatek's early dominance cut by Guo's resurgence

The ranking difference was clearly reflected in the first part of the match, where Swiatek took two consecutive breaks and surged to a 4-0 lead. However, the Pole showed problems with her serve – she only got 50% of her first serves in during the first set and committed a total of 5 double faults. This allowed Guo to get a break, cutting Swiatek's 24-game winning streak since Wimbledon.

The Chinese player showed her serving ability, varying it and finding consistency to keep pace with Swiatek. With only one break disadvantage this time, Guo showed character on Center Court, but it wasn't enough to recover the second break. Swiatek closed out the set well on her serve, 6-3 after 40 minutes, in a set where she gradually lost her initial dominance against a good performance from her opponent.

Second Set: Swiatek adjusts serve, ramps up return games

Things took a different turn at the start of the second set, as both players exchanged breaks: first Swiatek and then Guo, maintaining parity at 1-1. Swiatek's serving problems reappeared, as she never truly felt comfortable when she had the responsibility.

However, the Pole managed to correct her errors and adjust her serve, significantly improving her first serve percentage to 77%, winning 71% of those points (though only 20% on her second serve). Furthermore, Swiatek appeared even more incisive on return, quickly taking control of points when Guo served – both on first and second serve.

Thus, the match began to lose rhythm, mainly with short points, Guo's errors, and Swiatek's winners, as she now surpassed her opponent in power and ball speed. The Chinese player could not defend her serve again, while Swiatek held her service games without problems. Four consecutive breaks in favor of the former world No. 1 ultimately gave her a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Swiatek advances to the third round and is still waiting to find out her opponent, who will be the winner between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27th seed) and Eva Lys. The Polish player is not defending any points this week—as she did not compete in the 2024 tournament due to injury—which means that every victory could be vital in order to earn points and get back in contention for a return to the No. 1. She currently sits second in the WTA Race, less than 1,400 points behind Aryna Sabalenka.

Match Statistics Guo vs. Swiatek