TORONTO — Iga Swiatek is into the National Bank Open presented by Rogers semifinals.
The No. 7 seed from Poland topped No. 15 Diana Shnaider of Russia 6-2, 6-1 on Monday night at Sobeys Stadium.
No. 9 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine faced No. 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in the late women's quarterfinal, with the winner taking on Swiatek in the semis.
Alexandrova upset world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the fourth round over the weekend to advance at the US$7.4-million tournament.
Meanwhile in doubles, top seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and China's Shuai Zhang cruised past Australia's Storm Hunter and Desirae Krawczyk of the United States 6-4, 6-3 in the quarters.
Swiatek went up an early break in the first set against Shnaider and led 4-2 in front of a crowd peppered with Polish flags, jerseys, hats, scarves and signs of support.
Chants of "Iga! Iga!" started as fans could sense the momentum, and she delivered with another break at 5-2 before serving out.
Swiatek broke Shnaider again to grab a 2-1 advantage in the second set and did the same for a 4-1 edge when her opponent flubbed a return.
The 25-year-old finished things off when Shnaider sent her return into the net to clinch her semifinal spot in just 64 minutes.
Swiatek never faced a break-point chance against all night, and finished with five of her own after Shnaider had surrendered just four all tournament before Monday.
A semifinalist at this year's French Open, Shnaider upset No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula to make the quarters after losing to the same player in the NBO semis two years ago.
A six-time Grand Slam winner, including last year's Wimbledon crown, Swiatek made the NBO semis in 2023 when she also lost to Pegula, who would go onto capture consecutive titles.
Shnaider and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, who are No. 6 seeds in doubles, play Slovakia's Tereza Mihalikova and Britain's Olivia Nicholls on Tuesday.
The rest of the singles quarters will feature No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan — the top remaining seed — taking on No. 11 Naomi Osaka of Japan, and No. 4 Coco Gauff of the U.S. meeting No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
This year's tournament marked just the second time in the Open era, and the first since 1991, that all eight quarterfinalists on the women's side at Canada's national championship were seeded.
