Jessica Pegula, ranked No. 6 on the WTA Tour and seeded third in the tournament, successfully defended her National Bank Open women’s singles title on Monday. She defeated Amanda Anisimova in a closely contested all-American final, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
Pegula, a native of Buffalo, New York, triumphed at last year’s National Bank Open held in Montreal. With this victory, she has now accumulated a 17-2 record in the Canadian tennis championship and secured the sixth title of her professional career.
“So excited to be here with the trophy again,” Pegula stated. “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.”
This victory marks Pegula as the first woman to win back-to-back titles at Canada’s premier tennis event since Martina Hingis accomplished the feat in 2000.
“I’ve always just played well here,” Pegula noted, adding that the proximity to Buffalo made it a special occasion with many friends and family in attendance, including her grandparents and husband. “I don’t really get that at a lot of tournaments.”
Anisimova, ranked No. 132 entering the tournament, has been making a comeback after taking a mental health break. She made a notable run to the final, defeating three top-20 players, including the No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals.
“Really thought I had it there after the second set, but she really stepped it up,” Anisimova commented. Despite the loss, her performance in Toronto will see her rise to No. 49 in the world rankings. “She was playing some amazing tennis. It was a very, very difficult match.”
This final marked only the second time since 2009 that two Americans have faced off in the championship match of a WTA 1000 event, a tier just below the Grand Slams. The previous instance was in 2016, when Serena Williams defeated Madison Keys in Rome.
Pegula improved her record to 3-0 against Anisimova, having also defeated her earlier in the season on clay. Last year, Pegula secured the title by beating Liudmila Samsonova in the final.
Pegula, daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, took an early lead in Monday’s final by breaking Anisimova in the first game. She maintained the advantage and won the first set 6-3, with Anisimova double-faulting at set point.
Anisimova fought back in the second set, overcoming a 0-40 deficit to hold serve before breaking Pegula to take a 2-1 lead. She extended her lead to 5-2 after another break and eventually won the set 6-2, handing Pegula her first dropped set of the tournament.
This match was the first time since 2001 that two American women competed for Canada’s national championship, with Serena Williams defeating Jennifer Capriati in that previous encounter.
Reflecting on her return to competitive tennis after an eight-month hiatus, Anisimova remarked, “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.”
In the doubles final, 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.
Dabrowski, who won a mixed doubles bronze medal for Canada at the Paris Olympics alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime, previously claimed the National Bank Open doubles title in 2021 with former partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil. Dabrowski and Routliffe had beaten Dolehide and Krawczyk in the Wimbledon semifinals the previous month but fell to Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the U.S. in the final.
