Due to the Olympics, the finals in Canada this year are taking place on a Monday.
In Toronto, Jessica Pegula is looking to repeat as the champion of this WTA 1000 event. She faces fellow American Amanda Anisimova, who is making her debut in a final at this level.
In Montreal, Andrey Rublev plays for his third Masters 1000 title, and his second out of the last three. He takes on Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, who like Anisimova, plays the biggest final of his life on Monday.
Jessica Pegula (3) vs. Amanda Anisimova – 6:00pm on Centre Court in Toronto
Pegula is now 25-10 on the year, after not dropping a set through four matches this past week. She’s playing for her second title of 2024, after winning on grass in Berlin earlier this summer, shortly after returning from injuries that forced her to miss the European clay court season. This would be Jess’ third WTA 1000 title in as many years, and she’s 5-6 lifetime in WTA finals.
Anisimova dropped just one set to this stage, bringing her record this season to 17-9. The 22-year-old missed three months of 2024 due to injury, but she’s been red hot this summer on North American hard courts, winning nine of 10 matches across the past two weeks (including qualifying). Amanda is just 2-1 in WTA finals, and hasn’t played a championship match in over two-and-a-half years, as she’s taken multiple breaks from the tour these last few years for both physical and mental health reasons.
Pegula is 2-0 against Anisimova. The first meeting came four years ago in straight sets on another North American hard court. The other came just a few months ago on clay in Charleston, in a match that went all the way to a third-set tiebreak.
Jess is certainly the favorite based on experience at this level, as Amanda had never previously advanced beyond the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event. But a hard court should reward Anisimova’s power advantage, and she was striking her serve and backhand with authority on Sunday against Emma Navarro. So I’m backing Amanda to pull off the upset and take the biggest title of her career on Monday.
Andrey Rublev (5) vs. Alexei Popyrin – Not Before 7:30pm on Court Central in Montreal
It’s been a season of extreme ups-and-downs for Rublev. He’s won two titles, including a Masters 1000 title in Madrid, but he’s also become increasingly unable to control his anger on court, which even resulted in a default from a semifinal in Dubai. Andrey went on a four-match losing streak shortly after that incident, and did so again starting at Roland Garros, failing to win a match across a six-week period. But he’s been able to take advantage of a rather open draw in Montreal, as well as of a less-than-100% Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals.
Popyrin arrived in Canada just 16-15 this season, and he actually went on a five-match losing streak this spring on clay. But hard courts are his preferred surface, and he’s had anything but an easy draw in Montreal, taking out four consecutive top 20 players (Shelton, Dimitrov, Hurkacz, Korda). The 25-year-old Australian had only once advanced to a quarterfinal at a Masters 1000 tournament prior to this past week, and while this is only his third ATP final, Alexei won his first two.
They have split two previous encounters, with Rublev prevailing last fall on an indoor hard court, and Popyrin prevailing this spring on clay. Alexei’s serve is his biggest weapon, so if he can hold comfortably and apply pressure to the easily-frustrated Andrey, he has a real shot at winning this title. However, when Rublev gathers momentum as he has in Montreal, his big ball striking is tough to curtail. Andrey should be favored to win his third Masters 1000 title.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (1) vs. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (3) – Granollers and Zeballos are playing for their second consecutive Masters 1000 title, after winning three months ago in Rome. Ram and Salisbury saved four match points in the semifinals, coming back from a 9-5 deficit in the deciding-set tiebreak. This is a rematch of the championship match from last November’s ATP Finals, which Ram and Salisbury won in straight sets.
Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe (1) vs. Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk (3) – The women’s doubles final also sees the top seeds face the third seeds. Dabrowski and Routliffe are the reigning US Open champions, and were also finalists last month at Wimbledon. This is a second WTA 1000 final for Dolehide and Krawczyk, after losing the championship match in Doha earlier this year.
Monday’s full Order of Play for the ATP is here, and for the WTA is here.
