Jessica Pegula reveals ‘honour’ to match Serena Williams feat with Canadian Open title defence
Jessica Pegula has successfully defended her Canadian Open title, becoming the first woman to win 10 consecutive matches at the tournament since Serena Williams.
Pegula beat her resurgent compatriot Amanda Anisimova, 6-3 2-6 6-1, to claim the third WTA 1000 title of her career and second in Canada.
Told me I couldn’t, so I did! 😤👏@JPegula defends her title in Canada after defeating Anisimova in a three set thriller! #NBO24 pic.twitter.com/bLMVmfuP6e
— wta (@WTA) August 12, 2024
Last year the WTA edition of the tournament was held in Montreal, before returning to Toronto in 2024.
And the World No.6 explained how nice it was to be able to have more familiar faces in the crowd, with Pegula’s home of Buffalo in New York only a relatively short distance away from Toronto.
“Toronto, it’s nice, it’s so close to Buffalo, I had a lot of friends, family, and my grandparents, my husband was able to come today,” revealed Pegula. “That’s cool, I don’t really get that at a lot of tournaments.
“Then to be able to win the tournament as well, and to be able to share that moment with them is really special. I don’t know what it is about Canada, but I just seem to do well, so I’ll just … yeah, I’ll take it.”
As a result of defending the title, Pegula becomes the first woman to win the Canadian Open in consecutive years since Martina Hingis in 2000.
She is also the first American woman to win the singles title since Serena Williams in 2013, with Pegula claiming that she is honoured to be victorious in Canada once again.
“I know everyone’s talking about my record and all this stuff, but it’s nice to be able to get through the week and to back it up,” said Pegula. “So, just super excited, I mean, an honour, really.”
7 – Jessica Pegula is the seventh player in the Open Era to defend her title at Canada Open after Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Regina Marsikova, Monica Seles and Martina Hingis (the last to do so in 1999-2000). Back.#NBO24 | @NBOtoronto @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/633OKPk9kb
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) August 12, 2024
Despite being beaten in her first WTA 1000 final, Anisimova has now risen a colossal 83 places upto World No.49.
After a recent struggle with mental health and injuries, the 22-year-old admitted that she was proud of herself in the on-court presentation, “I normally don’t do this, but I just want to say that I’m proud of myself – I feel like I’ve overcome a lot of things this year.”
Both players will now move onto the Cincinnati Masters, with Pegula receiving a bye to the second round as the sixth seed and Anisimova opens her campaign against two-time champion Victoria Azarenka.
Inside the baseline…
It is a truly impressive feat from Jessica Pegula, especially when you consider that it has not been done since 2000, as Serena Williams did not play the 2012 tournament after winning the year prior. It has been a very mixed season for the American, but she seems to be finding some form ahead of her home Grand Slam and could be a real threat for the US Open title. As for Amanda Anisimova, we have always known the talent was there, but to reach your first WTA 1000 final after beating the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Daria Kasatkina and Emma Navarro is a great achievement. She is now back inside the top 50 like she belongs, and will likely only keep rising. It is also very nice to see Anisimova praising herself, as it has been a tough few years for the young American.
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