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.
