Iga Swiatek surged into her first semi-final of 2026 on Wednesday, brushing aside American fifth seed Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 in the Italian Open quarter-finals in a match that lasted a little over an hour.
The four-time major winner looked close to her best again on clay, a surface where she has long set the standard. Swiatek, the world number four, has won four French Open titles between 2020 and 2024 and six WTA Tour events on clay, but she did not win a clay-court tour event last year and was beaten in the Paris semi-finals. This week, though, she has looked far sharper: in the previous round she dropped just three games against Naomi Osaka, and on Wednesday she never allowed Pegula to find a rhythm.
Swiatek said the work she has done recently has already started to show on court. "The stuff we did in the last [few] weeks has helped and I have a lot of confidence in my shots," she said, after another commanding display in Rome.
There is also a fresh voice in her camp. Swiatek appointed Francisco Roig, Rafael Nadal’s former coach, last month, and she has been leaning on Nadal for advice on the practice court. For a player who built much of her early success on relentless control and heavy topspin, that combination has helped her rediscover the patterns that once made her so feared.
Friday’s semi-final will test whether this is a brief spike or the start of a fuller return to form, but the signs are encouraging. Pegula was below par on a surface she does not favour, and Swiatek punished every loose service game and short ball. For now, the Italian Open is beginning to look like the place where her clay-court season finally turned.
Elsewhere in Rome, Elena Rybakina ended Alex Eala’s run in straight sets, underlining how quickly the draw is tightening as the tournament moves toward the business end.
