TORONTO (AP) — Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed and sixth-ranked player on the WTA Tour, defended her National Bank Open women’s singles title by defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the all-American final on Monday.
Pegula from nearby Buffalo, New York, won the National Bank Open in Montreal last year and improved her all-time record at the Canadian Tennis Championships to 17-2, winning the sixth tournament victory of her career.
“I’m so happy to be back here with the trophy,” she said. “I really wanted it. I know everyone’s talking about my record and all that, but it’s nice to get through the week and confirm that.”
Pegula is the first woman since Martina Hingis in 2000 to repeat her success at Canada’s showcase event.
“I’ve always played well here,” said the 30-year-old. “Toronto is especially nice. It’s so close to Buffalo, I had a lot of friends, family (in the stands). And my grandparents, my husband were able to come today.”
“That doesn’t really happen to me in many tournaments.”
Anisimova, who was ranked 132nd in the world at the beginning of the week, continues her comeback after retire from the game for a mental break, defeat three top 20 players in Toronto, including No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.
“I really thought I had it after the second set, but she really stepped up,” said Anisimova, who will wake up on Tuesday ranked 49th. “She played incredible tennis. It was a very, very difficult match.”
Monday’s match was only the second time that two Americans have been featured in the final of a WTA 1000 event – one level below the sport’s four Grand Slams – since the format was first introduced in 2009. The only other case came in 2016, when Serena Williams defeated Madison Keys in Rome.
Pegula, who improved her record against Anisimova to 3-0 after also defeating her on clay earlier this season, defeated Liudmila Samsonova in last year’s final.
The daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula – owners of the Buffalo Bills in the NFL and the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL – broke the match in Monday’s first match and led 5-3 when Anisimova double-faulted and lost a set in the wind at Sobeys Stadium.
Anisimova was 40-0 down in the second set, but then fought back and, after a long fight, was able to extend Pegula’s serve to 2-1 with a break.
The 22-year-old former French Open semi-finalist then took another break to lead 5-2 when Pegula double-faulted before holding her serve, handing her her first lost set of the tournament.
On Monday, two Americans played for the Canadian national championship for the first time since Serena Williams defeated Jennifer Capriati in 2001.
Anisimova said she had no idea what her return to competitive tennis would be like when she first stepped onto the court at the Australian Open in January after an eight-month break.
“I worked hard and kept my head down,” she said. “I tried to come back to the sport in a more relaxed way – to enjoy each day as it comes and not take everything so seriously because I think that takes the joy out of a lot of things.
“I think this approach to my daily life has helped me a lot.”
The American duo Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk defeated Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealander Erin Routliffe 7:6 (2), 3:6 and 10:7 in the doubles final on Monday.
Dabrowski, who won bronze in the mixed doubles for Canada at the Paris Olympics with Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, won the 2021 National Bank Open doubles crown with his former partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil.
Dabrowski and Routliffe beat Dolehide and Krawczyk in last month’s Wimbledon semifinals before losing to Czech Katerina Siniakov and American Taylor Townsend in the title match.
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