Elina Svitolina and Iga Swiatek set up blockbuster Toronto Masters semi-final

The six-time Grand Slam champion reached only her second WTA semi-final of the year, following her run in Rome, and is now bidding to reach her first final since winning the Korea Open in Seoul almost a year ago.

"From the beginning I went for it. I felt like I could dominate," Swiatek said. "I was quite happy with the way I played.

"It was a tricky match with the wind. It was the first chance I had to play in the wind since I got here. I thought I needed to adjust to that. I just wanted to be more solid."

Swiatek dominated on serve and return, winning 11 of 16 points on Shnaiderâ™s second serve while dropping just three points on her own first serve. The Pole broke in the opening game and added another to take the first set 6-2, before breaking three more times in the second as Shnaider struggled to find her range, sealing a commanding 6-1 victory.

The 25-year-old moves on to face Ukraine's ninth-ranked Elina Svitolina, who outlasted 19th-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.

Svitolina recovered from dropping the first set to win eight straight games across the second and third sets, before overcoming a brief wobble while serving for the match to break back and seal a 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory in 93 minutes.

"Very pleased with my performance. With the fighting spirit," said Svitolina. "She was playing really well in the first set. I had to really step into like a fighting mode."

The second semi-final line-up is yet to be decided, with Belinda Bencic and Coco Gauff facing off in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, while fourth seed Coco Gauff takes on Alina Korneeva. 

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