Jessica Pegula beats Amanda Anisimova to win second straight WNB Open title
TORONTO: Jessica Pegula, the third seed and sixth seed on the WTA Tour, defended her National Bank Open women's singles title by beating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the US final on Monday.
Pegula, who hails from nearby Buffalo, New York, won the Bank National Open in Montreal last year and improved her all-time record in the Canadian Open to 17-2 after earning her sixth career win in the tournament.
Anisimova, who entered the week ranked No. 132 in the world as she continues her comeback after taking a mental health break, beat three top-20 players in Toronto, including No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka, in the quarterfinals.
Monday's final was only the second time a WTA 1,000 tournament final – one step below the sport's four Grand Slams – has featured American players since the tournament was first introduced in 2009, the only other time being in 2016 when Serena Williams defeated Madison Keys in Rome.
Pegula, who extended her winning streak over Anisimova to 3-0 after also beating her on clay earlier this season, beat Lyudmila Samsonova in last year's final.
The 30-year-old broke her opponent's serve in the first game and was leading 5-3 when Anisimova double-faulted to lose the set.
Anisimova trailed 40-40 in the second set before fighting back to hold Pegula's serve and then broke to go 2-1 up after a long exchange.
The 22-year-old, who has previously reached the French Open semi-finals, went 5-2 up after Pegula broke again when she double-faulted before holding serve to drop her first set of the tournament.
Monday marked the first time two American women have played at the Canadian National Championships since Serena Williams beat Jennifer Capriati in 2001.
Pegula became the first player to win 10 consecutive women's singles matches at the Canadian Open since Serena Williams won 14 between 2011 and 2014.