Jessica Pegula beats Amanda Anisimova to claim 2nd straight National Bank Open title

TORONTO (AP) — Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed and the sixth-ranked WTA Tour player, defended her National Bank Open women’s singles title by defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in Monday’s all-American final.

Pegula, from nearby Buffalo, New York, won last year’s National Bank Open in Montreal and improved her all-time record at the Canadian tennis championship to 17-2 in picking up the sixth tournament victory of her career.

“So excited to be here with the trophy again,” she said. “I really wanted this one. I know everyone’s talking about my record and all this stuff, but it’s nice to be able to get through the week and to back it up.”

Pegula is the first woman to repeat at Canada’s showcase event since Martina Hingis in 2000.

“I’ve always just played well here,” said the 30-year-old. “Especially Toronto, it’s nice. It’s so close to Buffalo, I had a lot of friends, family (in the stands). And my grandparents, my husband was able to come today.

“I don’t really get that at a lot of tournaments.”

Anisimova, who entered the week ranked No. 132 in the world as she continues her comeback after stepping away from the game for a mental health break, beat three top-20 players in Toronto, including No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.

“Really thought I had it there after the second set, but she really stepped it up,” said Anisimova, who will wake up Tuesday at No. 49 in the rankings. “She was playing some amazing tennis. It was a very, very difficult match.

Monday’s match marked just the second time the final of a WTA 1000 event — one step below the sport’s four Grand Slams — has featured two Americans since the format was first introduced in 2009, with the only other instance coming in 2016 when Serena Williams defeated Madison Keys in Rome.

Pegula, who improved to 3-0 against Anisimova after also topping her on clay earlier this season, beat Liudmila Samsonova in last year’s final.

The daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula — owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres — picked up a break in Monday’s first game and led 5-3 when Anisimova double-faulted to go down a set in the wind at Sobeys Stadium.

Anisimova trailed love-40 in the second set before battling back to hold and then broke Pegula to go up 2-1 following a long rally.

The 22-year-old former French Open semifinalist then pushed ahead 5-2 with another break when Pegula committed a double fault before holding serve to hand Pegula her first dropped set of the tournament.

Monday marked the first time two American women have played for Canada’s national championship since Serena Williams defeated Jennifer Capriati in 2001.

Anisimova said she had no idea how her return to competitive tennis would go when she first stepped back on the court in January at the Australian Open following an eight-month break.

“I put the work in, I kept my head down,” she said. “I tried to come back to the sport with more of a relaxed feeling — trying to enjoy each day as it comes and not being so serious about everything, because I think that takes away the joy from a lot of things.

“With that kind of approach to my everyday life, I think that’s helped me a lot.”

The American duo of Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk defeated Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe 7-6 (2), 3-6, 10-7 in Monday’s doubles final.

Dabrowski, who captured mixed doubles bronze for Canada at the Paris Olympics with Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, won the National Bank Open doubles crown in 2021 with former partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil.

Dabrowski and Routliffe beat Dolehide and Krawczyk in last month’s Wimbledon semifinals before losing out to Katerina Siniakov of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in the title match.

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