In the WTA Toronto final on Monday, Jessica Pegula successfully defended her National Bank Open women’s singles championship by defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
Pegula won the National Bank Open in Montreal last year, setting a new record of 17-2 for the Canadian tennis title and winning her sixth career tournament.
Pegula expressed her feelings after the win and said: “So excited to be here with the trophy again. 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 back it up. I’ve always just played well here. Especially Toronto, it’s nice. It’s so close to Buffalo, I had a lot of friends, and 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 defeated three top-20 players in Toronto, including No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka, as she continued her recovery from a break from the game for mental health. She started the week ranked No. 132 in the world.
She talked about it after the match and said: “Really thought I had it there after the second set, but she really stepped it up. She was playing some amazing tennis. It was a very, very difficult match.”
When Anisimova returned to the court for the first time in eight months, at the Australian Open in January, she admitted she had no idea how her comeback to competitive tennis would go.
She added: “I put the work in, I kept my head down. 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.”
Jessica Pegula in 2024
Currently the world no.6, Pegula played her last match on the 12th of August when she defeated world no.132 Amanda Anisimova 6-3 2-6 6-1 in the final in Toronto to win her 7th career title.
This season Pegula owns a composed 26-10 record. The American conquered 2 titles in 2024 in Berlin and Toronto.
Pegula has won 2 titles in 2024 in Berlin and Toronto.
The American won 7 titles in her career: 6 on hard courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of her titles)
Amanda Anisimova in 2024
Now the world no.132, the American played her last match on the 12th of August when she lost to world no.6 Jessica Pegula 6-3 2-6 6-1 in the final in Toronto (draw).
At present, during this year the American owns an overall 17-10 match record. Amanda Anisimova’s latest run in Toronto was the best achievement of her season.
Amanda Anisimova will compete against the world no.19 Victoria Azarenka in the 1st round. Their current record is 1-1.
The American was the runner-up in Toronto (National Bank Open).
Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova fought against each other 3 times. Their record is 3-0 for Pegula. Previously, the last time they played each other, Jessica Pegula won 6-3 2-6 6-1 in the final in Toronto (National Bank Open) on the 12th of August 2024.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova |
| Embed from Getty Images |