Jessica Pegula ’embarrassed’ to celebrate one-side victory in Montreal final
Jessica Pegula hammered Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 to win her second WTA 1000 trophy in a desperately flat final at the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal.
Pegula needed only 49 minutes to become the first American to win the Canadian Open in a decade, since Serena Williams’ victory in 2013 and she seemed reluctant to celebrate her win in the final against an exhausted opponent who has played a succession of matches in recent days due to inclement weather.
World No 18 Samsonova had an incredible week by claiming two top-five scalps, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
Yet she had spent nearly 10 hours on court and those efforts took a toll as Pegula, who had beaten world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, comfortably claimed her third career title.
“You are an amazing player,” Pegula said of her opponent. “I think everyone needs to give her a round of applause because she has played like five matches in three days.”
The US No 1 was in tears as she claimed the title, but former British No 1 Annabel Croft suggested her muted reaction as she won the championship point was evidence that Pegula understood the physical advantage she had over a jaded Samsonova.
“This was a match between a player who hit a purple match and everything she touched turned to gold,” Croft told Amazon Prime.
“Then at the other end, you had an opponent who gave her best, but just didn’t have anything left after playing so many matches.
“Jess Pegula was too hot in this match, but it was difficult for Samsonova.
“Pegula set the tone early on, she was looking for the corners and she makes the game look incredibly easy.
“The amount of free points she gets on her serve now shows how much it has improved and she really is a complete player.
“You could see on the last point of the match that Samsonova had limited foot movement and she just had nothing left in the tank.
“Pegula seemed a little embarrassed. She didn’t celebrate too much after match point as I think she appreciated her opponent has had such a tough run with the weather.”
Pegula still has a lot of ground to make up in the WTA rankings on world No 1 Iga Swiatek and No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, but she is eyeing up the US Open with relish after this impressive title win.
Samsonova may need a rest before she gets back on the court after coming off second best in the battle with stormy Canadian weather in recent days, but she will be boosted by a new career-high ranking of No 12 after her run in Montreal.
While this was a successful tournament for the WTA Tour, with bumper crowds watching the action despite the wet weather, the final was a big letdown.
Samsonova simply couldn’t perform at the level she wanted after playing twice on Sunday and it left the Canadian fans short-changed in the championship match.
WTA Tour chiefs will be hoping for a better final when their star names will play in the same Cincinnati event as the male players on the ATP Tour over the next week.
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