How Ariana Grande helped Iga Swiatek pull off comeback win over Marta Kostyuk in Toronto

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Iga Swiatek credited Ariana Grande’s role in helping her seal a comeback win over Marta Kostyuk at the National Bank Open in Toronto, as the world No. 8 overcame a woeful first set to advance to the quarter-finals.

Highlights: Stunning upset as Kostyuk downs four-time champion Swiatek

Video credit: TNT Sports

It is the first time Swiatek has reached the quarter-finals of a tournament since the Italian Open in May, though it did not look like that would be the case after the opening set as the Pole only won a single point on her serve.

However, Swiatek soon found her groove after that, allowing Kostyuk just three break points for the rest of the match and preventing her from converting any of them.

Swiatek was one of the first players to arrive in Canada before the National Bank Open, but she said that extra time in Toronto courtesy of Ariana Grande had helped her hone the adaptability that she showed to beat Kostyuk.

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”The reason for me being early here was I went to Ariana Grande’s show in Boston and I had nothing to do after,” Swiatek said.

”For sure, being early and preparing, getting through the jet lag and being able to get used to the conditions, sometimes different conditions, rainy days, dry days, sunny days.

”So I experienced that all in Toronto already and I feel like I am ready for different kinds of situations in the match.”

Kostyuk has already beaten seven top-10 players in the world in a 2026 season that has seen her rise from 26th to 11th in the world rankings, and she looked set to add an eighth scalp to that collection when she won the opening set in Toronto.

In fact Swiatek was one of the players in that streak, as the Pole’s quest for a fifth Roland Garros title was thwarted in the fourth round by Kostyuk.

Yet Swiatek returned a different player for the second set and did not even allow the Ukrainian a break point in the middle set while unforced errors steadily crept into Kostyuk’s game.

And Swiatek kept up that momentum in the final set, overcoming a hard-fought final deuce to clinch victory and set up a quarter-final clash against either Jessica Pegula or Diana Shnaider.

Asked what advice her coaches gave after the first set to kickstart the comeback, Swiatek said: ”Tactical stuff and I am really grateful for that because sometimes you cannot see everything when you are playing and looking from a different perspective and getting that perspective for sure helps.

”So just a few tactical tips and it really helped me to lean on that and improve. Because I felt like I played good in the first set but some shots I could play harder, more heavy. So I added that, I added what they said and it was enough.

”I am in a different place for sure, so I feel like I can play my game and I could not really do that in the French [Open].

"I knew what to do, I knew how to play and that just continued, being focussed, being in the zone with my game plan, with my strengths and I am happy that I did that.

”[It means] a lot, Marta is playing great now, she is in a good place winning many matches so I needed to step up. Probably one of the best matches of the season for me so I am happy about that.”

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