Pegula beats Anisimova, defends Canadian Open crown

Jessica Pegula, the No.3 seed and sixth-ranked WTA Tour player, has defended her Canadian Open singles title by defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3 2-6 6-1 in the all-American final.

Pegula, from nearby Buffalo, New York, won last year's event in Montreal and improved her all-time record at the championship to 17-2 in picking up the sixth tournament victory of her career.

"So excited to be here with the trophy again," she said.

"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."

Pegula is the first woman to repeat at Canada's showcase event since Martina Hingis in 2000.

"I've always just played well here," said the 30-year-old.

"It's nice. It's so close to Buffalo, I had a lot of friends, 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, who entered the week ranked world No.132 as she continues her comeback after stepping away from the game for a mental health break, beat three top-20 players in Toronto, including No.3 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.

"I put the work in, I kept my head down," said 22-year-old former French Open semi-finalist Anisimova, who will wake up Tuesday at No.49 in the rankings.

"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.

"Really thought I had it there after the second set, but she really stepped it up."

It was just the second time the final of a WTA 1000 event — one step below the sport's four grand slams — has featured two Americans since the format was first introduced in 2009, with the only other instance coming in 2016 when Serena Williams defeated Madison Keys in Rome.

Pegula, who dropped her first set of the tournament before improving to 3-0 against Anisimova after also topping her on clay earlier this season, beat Russia's Liudmila Samsonova in last year's decider.

Monday marked the first time two American women have played for Canada's national championship since Serena Williams defeated Jennifer Capriati in 2001.

Pegula also became the first player to register 10 consecutive victories in women's singles at the Canadian Open since Serena Williams put up 14 wins from 2011 to 2014.