"Queen of Toronto" - Danielle Collins, Coco Gauff, and others react as Jessica Pegula rises to glory as the Canadian Open champion for the second time
Danielle Collins, Coco Gauff, and other tennis players were overjoyed as Jessica Pegula clinched her second Canadian Open title at the 2024 event in Toronto. The American beat her compatriot, Amanda Anisimova, to reclaim her crown.
Pegula and Anisimova locked horns in the Canadian Open title clash on Monday, August 12. While the former sailed through the opening set with two breaks of serve (6-3), her opponent staged an inspired comeback in the second set, allowing Jessica Pegula just two games (6-2).
Despite the setback, though, Pegula, who was the defending champion, regrouped in the decider to close out the match 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 after one hour and 30 minutes of play. This was her third win over Amanda Anisimova in as many matches.
The 2024 Canadian Open is Jessica Pegula’s sixth career title and third in the WTA 1000 category, after Guadalajara 2022 and Montreal 2023. This is also her second trophy of the season, following her triumph at the WTA 500 in Berlin in June.
It is worth noting that the World No. 6 was forced to the sidelines for a couple of months due to a rib injury earlier this year. Her colleagues were thus delighted by her resurgence.
Danielle Collins celebrated Pegula’s win by calling her the “Queen of Toronto.” Coco Gauff, Taylor Townsend, and Emma Navarro, too, showed their support on social media.
Jessica Pegula assesses her Canadian Open 2024 run: "I knew I would find my footing"
En route to the title clash, Jessica Pegula beat the likes of 2021 finalist and former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, compatriots Ashlyn Krueger and Peyton Stearns, and an in-form Diana Shnaider.
In her post-match press conference, Pegula spoke about her title defense and reflected on her successful transition from the claycourts of Roland-Garros (Paris Olympics) to the hardcourts of Toronto.
"This week it didn’t feel that stressful because I came straight from Paris – maybe in a way, that kind of helped because I didn’t have much time to think about defending," the American said.
"It was more just getting used to the hardcourts; getting used to the conditions, the balls; the movement is different."
Remarkably, Jessica Pegula didn’t lose a single set before her final against Amanda Anisimova.
"At the same time, I think I always feel comfortable on hardcourts anyway, so I knew I would find my footing and kind of find my way throughout the tournament if I could get my way through the first few rounds," she added.
Pegula is expected to resume her campaign at the Cincinnati Open. As the sixth seed, she has received a bye in the opening round. She begins her campaign against either Dayana Yastremska or last year’s runner-up, Karolina Muchova, in the second round.