Jessica Pegula’s preparations for the upcoming US Open have received a boost after she became the first woman in 24 years to defend their title at the Canadian Open.
The American world No.6 beat compatriot Amanda Anisimovs 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, to claim her sixth WTA trophy. It is the first time Pegula has successfully defended a title on the Tour in her career and she is the first WTA player to do so in Canada since Martin Hingis in 2000. Unlike other tournaments, the North American event alternates between two cities – Toronto and Montreal.
“I’ve always just played well here, and I think my results kind of show that,” said Pegula.
“Especially 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, 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 seem to do well.”
Anisimova, who was playing in the biggest final of her career to date, was the only player to take a set off Pegula in the tournament. In the previous rounds, she beat former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova, Ashlyn Krueger, Peyton Stearns and Diana Shnaider.
The triumph occurred shortly after the Olympic tennis event in Paris where Pegula played in both the singles and doubles tournaments. Like others on the Tour, she didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for the hardcourt swing. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the American.
“This week it didn’t feel that stressful because I came straight from Paris,” she said.
“Maybe in a way that kind of helped because I didn’t have much time to think about defending. It was more just getting used to the hard court, getting used to the conditions, the balls, the movement is different.
“I always feel comfortable on hard courts anyway, so I knew I would find my footing and kind of find my way throughout the tournament if I could get my way through the first few rounds.
“I think I was able to do that really well and play some of my best tennis kind of later in the semis and the finals, for sure.”
Pegula is hoping to maintain her good form heading into her home Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows, which will begin at the end of this month. it will be her eighth main draw appearance at the event with her best result being a run to the quarter-finals in 2022.
