Jessica Pegula continues her love affair with … National Bank Open

The third-seeded American was playing in her fourth consecutive semifinal at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers and moved a step closer to becoming the first woman since Martina Hingis (1999 and 2000) to win two consecutive titles in Canada with her dominant 6-4, 6-3 victory over 14th-seeded Diana Shnaider on Sunday night.

With this win, Pegula improves his record in the main draw of the National Bank Open to 16-2. In the Open Era, only Chris Evert and Monica Seles have a better record in their first 18 matches at the event (both 17-1).

“Getting a chance to defend my title is something you don’t get every day, so I’m happy to be able to put myself in a good position to do it tomorrow,” Pegula told reporters during her post-match press conference. “I think it’s cool that my name is alongside so many other really big names in history that either played well here or were able to defend the title as well, so it’s pretty special.”

Pegula, the top-ranked player left in singles before moving into the semifinals at Sobeys Stadium on Sunday, admitted she is still trying to recapture the form she showed last year en route to her second WTA 1000 title in Montreal. She got off to a slow start against a rising Shnaider, who has already won three WTA 250 titles this year (along with an Olympic silver medal in women’s doubles with Mirra Andreeva) and toppled No. 1 seed Coco Gauff earlier this week en route to her first WTA 1000 semifinal.

Also read: Diana Shnaider continues her breakthrough in 2024 with a win over Gauff

After Shnaider took an early break in the opening set, Pegula responded with an immediate break and slowly found her rhythm in the rallies. With her flat, penetrating groundstrokes, she kept Shnaider on the defensive and forced her opponent into errors in gusty conditions. Both players remained evenly matched throughout the 83-minute encounter, but the difference was in the unforced error column: Pegula hit 11 winners and 15 unforced errors, while Shnaider hit 10 winners and 27 unforced errors.

“I think I played better today, maybe than I have in the last couple of matches. The conditions were still really tough, and then it’s really tricky playing against a left-hander, and someone I’ve never played or practiced with, so I had no idea what to expect,” Pegula explained. “I think I played really smart. I felt like I kind of adjusted my game plan after a couple of matches because I felt like what I had in mind at the beginning wasn’t going to work, so I had to adjust a little bit, but I’m proud that I figured that out.”

Standing in Pegula’s way to a third WTA 1000 title is American Amanda Anisimova. After beating world number three Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday, she defeated fellow countrywoman Emma Navarro, seeded eighth, in the day’s first semifinal. Pegula has won her two previous encounters with Anisimova, but their last match in Charleston earlier this year ended in a third-set tiebreak.

“I think Amanda has always been a really super talented player and is a top player when she’s healthy. … Obviously she’s taken a little break there, which is great, and it’s nice to see her back in top-level tennis,” Pegula said, referring to the burnout-induced break from competition Anisimova took last year. “I think everyone knows she’s a threat every time she steps on the court. She’s probably one of the biggest, cleanest ball-striking players I’ve ever played against, so when she’s on form it can be really, really tough.”

Read also: Semi-final results from Sunday in Toronto

Pegula will certainly have her hands full against Anisimova, who has won nine of her first 10 matches on the North American hard court. “I have to do my best to make her play a lot of extra balls and try to be aggressive when I can because when she’s on form she can hit a lot of winners and sometimes rip the racket out of your hand,” Pegula said. “I have to be smart tomorrow.”

Over the past three years, Pegula has become one of the most consistent players on the Hologic WTA Tour – and that kind of consistency week after week has earned her a No. 3 spot in the world rankings, her highest ranking of her career to date.

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As her fame has grown, she has become more aware of her position as one of the most prominent Asian American athletes in sports, Pegula admits – especially because her mother, Kim, was the first Asian American woman to become president of a major league sports team. Pegula has since followed in her mother’s footsteps, becoming a member of the WTA Players Council and joining the Asian American Pacific Islander Tennis Association as a founding board member.

In short, Pegula knows how important it is to be represented, especially for the younger Asian tennis fans who have come to Toronto this week to support her.

“As I’ve definitely been ranked higher — and I’ve actually played in Korea multiple times now — the way I’ve been welcomed and cheered on has drastically changed,” she said of the reaction she’s received from Korean and Asian fans in particular. “I think (my mom and I) are definitely a lot more open and like, ‘Oh, wow, they’re super supportive and think it’s really cool (that we’re Korean too).’ I just love when I see the really young girls who are maybe half-Korean too, and they’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m half-Korean, just like you,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s the sweetest thing ever that they’re making that kind of connection, I think that’s super sweet.”

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And even though the singles final this year is between two Americans, Pegula believes she could get more support from Canadian fans because of her connection to Buffalo. (Pegula’s parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.)

“I’m sure some people will be chanting ‘Go Bills’ – that’s always the case, especially here,” Pegula said with a laugh. “I think maybe I’ll be a little bit of a favorite with the home crowd, which will be funny considering I’m not directly from here, but I’m pretty close. It’s cool to have that support in another country.”