TORONTO, Canada - Elina Svitolina made a piece of recent WTA history with her 6-4, 6-0 victory over Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the Rogers Cup on Sunday.
Prior to the match, no WTA player had ever won three Premier 5 titles in a single season since the event level was introduced in 2009.
"It's amazing that I achieved this, but I try to take one tournament at a time - try to not think so much about all the past titles," Svitolina said of her achievement. "Of course it brings me confidence, I have the experience from that finals, but I try to take it as a new challenge and always look forward to it."
Previously, only four players had won two Premier 5 titles in a single season: Caroline Wozniacki (2010), Maria Sharapova (2011), Serena Williams (2013, 2014) and Victoria Azarenka (2013).
Player | Year | Tournament |
Caroline Wozniacki | 2010 | Montreal, Tokyo |
Maria Sharapova | 2011 | Rome, Cincinnati |
Serena Williams | 2013 | Rome, Toronto |
Victoria Azarenka | 2013 | Doha, Cincinnati |
Serena Williams | 2014 | Rome, Cincinnati |
Elina Svitolina | 2017 | Dubai, Rome, Toronto |
As it happened: Svitolina seals Rogers Cup title
All four of those players have held the World No.1 ranking. With the victory in Toronto, Svitolina will rise to a career-high of World No.4 on Monday, and will top the standings of the Porsche Race to Singapore.
She is also one of five women in contention for the top spot in the WTA rankings as the Western & Southern Open begins in Cincinnati.
"It's been a long journey and I still long journey ahead of me. I try to look only forward. There going to be lots of tough matches, tough tournaments," the Ukrainian assessed. "I'm 22 years old, so I still have career in front of me and hopefully for many more years to go, and I just always look what's in front of me. Of course I'm very, very happy that I could win fifth title, but in the same time...I have next tournament already and, of course, US Open coming up.
"There's always something in front and that's very important for me to have this mindset."