Poland's Iga Swiatek picked up her first tournament win of 2026 on Thursday in Toronto, downing Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina to take the National Bank Open women's championship.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
A National Bank Open that initially seemed doomed in Toronto without defending champion Victoria Mboko concluded on Thursday with record attendance, a crop of new fans, and the first title of the year for six-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek outclassed world No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazhakstan 6-2, 6-3 in the NB Open final – a result that will catapult the Polish World No. 8 star back into the WTA’s top-five.
The former World No. 1 had plenty of Polish supporters in the sold-out crowd on Thursday, and throughout the tournament, waving their red and white flags and chanting her name.
On Sunday Swiatek added a 26th tour-level title to her resume and earned US$1,085,220 of the tournament’s total US$7,433,076 prize purse.
Tournament director Karl Hale estimated the total attendance for the 12-day event at over 215,000. That’s a new record for the WTA Masters 1000 event in Toronto, said Hale, and a number on par with the ATP’s attendance at Sobeys Stadium over the years.
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The tournament had taken a big hit when Mboko announced she couldn’t defend her title due to a knee injury. The 19-year-old World No. 12 still attended the tournament for some events with fans.
But the event, in the second year with its expanded 96-player draw, landed an otherwise superb field, including nine of the top 10 players.
Poland's Iga Swiatek earned her first WTA Tour title in almost a year with a victory at the National Bank Open in Toronto. She beat Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament at Sobeys Stadium.
The Canadian Press
The four players who made the semi-finals were all ranked inside the top 10 – Rybakina, Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Elina Svitolina. That’s something that hadn’t happened at the Canadian Open since 2000, when the dazzling final four were Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.
Trailblazing Alex Eala from the Philippines was a massive hit in Toronto, the phenom who arrived fresh off her first-ever WTA title in Washington, D.C. The World No. 20 attracted the city’s Filipino community to the tournament by the thousands – many of them to their first-ever tennis experience – just as she has at several WTA stops around the world. They came to cheer her with Filipino flags, shirts, hats and hand-made signs.
Fans of Alex Eala of the Philippines showed their support for her during her run at the NBO in Toronto.Dan Hamilton/Reuters
“It was just unprecedented. We’ve never seen anything like that in Toronto before,” said Hale. “Every match she played, it sold out. She was just so engaging with her fans and the community. It was really beautiful to see her so loyal to her fans. The fans just get so excited about her.”
On the doubles side in Toronto, Katerina Siniakova and Shuai Zhang took the title on Thursday, over Sara Errani and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
The WTA will rotate back to Montreal in 2027, where they will have equal prize money at the Canadian Open for the first time. The men will cycle back to Toronto, and Hale said organizers will work to discuss a recurring problem: Why the ATP’s top players often skip the Canadian Open, like several did again this year in Montreal.
“We’re a mandatory event. We want all of the top players here,” said Hale. “So, after this tournament we have meetings in New York, and we’re going to meet with the tours, and try to ensure that we have the top player field like we did this year, nine of the top 10 players.”