By the Numbers: Rybakina claims tour-leading 26th hardcourt win to reach final

No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina advanced to the final of the National Bank Open for the first time in her career after rallying from a set down to beat No. 4 seed Coco Gauff in three sets on Wednesday night.

Gauff secured the only break of the first set in the 12th game to claim it 7-5 before Rybakina bounced back to take the next two sets for the loss of just four games, winning 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours.

She will next face No. 7 seed Iga Swiatek, who scored a three-set win over Elina Svitolina in the first semifinal on Wednesday.

"It was again a very tough battle," Rybakina told the press after her win. "I'm happy that it went my way once more. She served really well the first set. It was pretty close the first one, and then I feel like on my serve I rushed a little bit in the end. I knew that I need to start straight away the second set well. I'm happy that I did couple good returns, and then things turned around. She also started to feel a bit of pressure, some double-faults. I just kept on going, and I'm happy that I won."

"In the third set also, few moments I felt like I was just swinging, and some crazy return at 30-all, and it went my way.," she added. "I got my opportunities, I took them. I was trying not to think about the score, just going a point at a time. Also on the serve, I was just picking the targets. Even if she knew where I'm serving, I was just going for it, and it worked today."

Here are some key stats from Rybakina's win:

4: The number of three-set wins Rybakina recorded en route to the Toronto final. She also needed three sets to defeat Daria Kasatkina, Liudmila Samsonova and Naomi Osaka earlier in the tournament. She becomes only the fourth player in the Open Era to claim four three-set wins to reach the National Bank Open final, joining Lina Krasnoroutskaya (2003), Venus Williams (2014) and Bianca Andreescu (2019).

7: This is the seventh WTA 1000 final of Rybakina's career and her second of 2026 after finishing runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells. Tied with Gauff on seven WTA 1000 finals, only four active players have reached more at this level: Serena Williams (18), Sabalenka (15), Swiatek (14) and Jessica Pegula (8). Since the introduction of the WTA 1000 format in 2009, Rybakina is also the Asian player with the most finals at this level.

26: That's the number of hardcourt wins Rybakina has recorded in 2026, moving her past Sabalenka and Svitolina (25 each) for the most hardcourt victories by any player this season.

13: Thursday's final will be the 13th meeting between Rybakina and Swiatek on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. The pair have split their previous 12 encounters, with Rybakina winning their most recent meeting in the Australian Open quarterfinals on her way to a second Grand Slam singles title.

"She has been playing well, and it's going to be again a very difficult match," Rybakina said looking ahead to the final. "We know each other so well. We played so many times. In my case, I feel like it's more again about the recovery after so many hours on the court, and bringing as much energy as I can."