No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula needed just 49 minutes to defeat No. 15 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia 6-1, 6-0 in the final of the National Bank Open on Sunday in Montreal.
Pegula earned her second career WTA 1000-level title and became the first American woman to win the event since Serena Williams in 2013.
Pegula had an easy time handling a clearly exhausted Samsonova, who was the victim of uneven scheduling due to weather delays throughout the week. Samsonova had to play her semifinal match earlier Sunday afternoon and ousted third-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 43 minutes.
“I think everyone needs to give (Samsonova) a round of applause because she’s played like five matches in three days,” Pegula said in her on-court interview.
Pegula smashed five aces, won all 19 of her first-service points and converted five of eight break-point opportunities while never facing break point herself. She ended up winning 51 of the match’s 72 total points.
The top-ranked American in women’s tennis had a week to remember. She toppled world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland in Saturday’s semifinal match and beat No. 6 seed Coco Gauff, her friend and doubles partner, in the quarterfinals Friday.
Against Rybakina, Samsonova converted five of nine break-point opportunities and won 20 of 35 second-service points (57.1 percent) to advance to the final.
–Field Level Media
