The 6 women to win back-to-back Canadian Open titles as Jessica Pegula looks to achieve feat that eluded Serena Williams
The Canadian Open has been ever-present on the WTA Tour since the start of the Open Era, but only six women have managed to win back-to-back titles with Monica Seles achieving the unique feat of winning four in a row.
The Canadian Open is one oldest tennis tournaments as the first women’s edition was played in 1892 and it has remained one of the cornerstone events on the women’s calendar.
These days it forms part of the North American August-September hard-court swing with the men’s and women’s tournaments alternating between Montreal and Toronto, but back in the day it used to be play clay.
The first event in the Open Era was played in 1968 with American Jane Bartkowicz beating Canadian Faye Urban in the final. Bartkowicz, though, failed to defend her title the next year as Urban won the trophy on home soil.
Some big names have won multiple titles in Canada, including all-time greats like Steffi Graf and Serena Williams, but they didn’t win those trophies in consecutive years.
Graf (2), Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario (2), Williams (3) and Simona Halep (3) have all missed out on back-to-back titles.
Jessica Pegula is the defending champion as she won the 2023 title with an emphatic 6-1, 6-0 victory over Liudmila Samsonova for her second WTA 1000 title.
The 6 women to defend their Canadian Open titles:
Evonne Goolagong Cawley – 1972 and 1973
Australian legend Evonne Goolagong won two Canadian Open titles and she won them back-to-back in the 70s. Goolagong defeated Great Britain’s Virginia Wade 6–3, 6–1 in the 1972 final to lift her eighth title of the year and the 27th of her career.
The following year she defeated Helga Niessen Masthoff from Germany for the 37th trophy of her career.
Regina Marsikova – 1977 and 1978
Regina Marsikova – who reached a career-high No 11 in the rankings – won 11 titles during her career and two of them came in Canada.
The Czech’s first-ever WTA title came on the clay in Toronto in 1977 when she beat South African Marise Kruger 6–4, 4–6, 6–2. The following year she defeated Virginia Ruzici from Romania 7–5, 6–7 (9–11), 6–2.
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Martina Navratilova – 1982 and 1983
The great Martina Navratilova won three titles in Canada and two of them came in back-to-back seasons. Playing in her first final in 1982, she beat Andrea Jaeger 6–3, 7–5 and the following year she got the better of her great rival Chris Evert, winning 6–4, 4–6, 6–1.
Navratilova won her third title in 1989, but there was no back-to-back trophies this time.
Chris Evert – 1984 and 1985
Chris Evert won her first Canadian Open title in 1974 and her second one six years later, but she had to wait until the mid-80s to win back-to-back trophies at the event.
The American defeated Alycia Moulton in the 1984 final and Claudia Kohde-Kilsch in the 1985 showpiece match.
Monica Seles – 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
Talk about dominance! Monica Seles not only defended her title once, but she won the Canadian Open four consecutive years.
Having finished runner-up to Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in 1992, Seles was in imperious form in the 1995 final as she beat Amanda Coetzer 6–0, 6–1. The following year she defeated Sánchez Vicario in straight sets while Anke Huber was dismissed in the 1997 final before she again defeated Sánchez Vicario in 1998.
Martina Hingis – 1999 and 2000
Martina Hingis took over from Seles as she denied the Yugoslavia-born player a fifth title in a row, winning the 1999 final 6–4, 6–4.
The following year Hingis defeated Serena Williams in the final as the American retired with the score 0–6, 6–3, 3–0.
