By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, August 10, 2024
Jessica Pegula topped Peyton Stearns for her fourth straight Canadian Open semifinal and Amanda Anisimova toppled Aryna Sabalenka for her first.
Photo credit: Vaughn Ridley/Getty
American women are tuning it up in Toronto.
Defending champion Jessica Pegula continued her winning Canadian tradition and Amanda Anisimova scored a trailblazing win as the pair joined compatriot Emma Navarro rebranding the blue hard court with a red, white and blue hue.
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All three Americans are into the final four of the National Bank Open in Toronto.
The third-seeded Pegula powered through five straight games stopping compatriot Peyton Stearns 6-4, 7-5 in tonight’s quarterfinal.
Pegula hit her way into history in improving to 15-2 lifetime at the Canadian Open—only Monica Seles has a higher winning percentage—and joining Seles, Gabriela Sabatini and Simona Halep as just the fourth woman in Open Era history to reach four or more consecutive semifinals in Canada.
“Super windy tough conditions. I don’t think either of us felt really comfortable,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “There were some scrappy, kind of weird points. It’s tough when the ball is moving so much to keep telling yourself to be aggressive and move your feet. It can kind of play tricks on you.
“I did the best I could to get back in that second set. I’m happy, obviously, that I came back and didn’t give away any free games. She’s been playing great and had a great tournament so it was definitely a good win for me.”
Pegula is bidding to become the first woman to defend the Canadian Open since legendary Hall of Famer Martina Hingis in 1999.
“I hope so, that would be amazing,” said Pegula, who will face either sixth-seeded Liudmila Samsonova or 14th-seeded Diana Shnaider in the semifinals.
Crunching shots with conviction, Anisimova surprised second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-2 to advance to her maiden WTA 1000 semifinal—her first Tour-level semifinal since 2022 Charleston.
World No. 139 Anisimova is the lowest-ranked woman to reach the Canadian Open semifinals since then No. 937 Sloane Stephens in 2017.
“It feels amazing. I've been working really hard the last few months, and I think it's my first time in the semis of a 1000, so I'm really happy with this result,” Anisimova told the media in Toronto. “Yeah, I'm just really proud of myself, and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Though it’s a seismic upset in terms of ranking, it’s not a stunner for Anisimova, who defeated Sabalenka for the fifth time in seven meetings to return to the Top 100. Anisimova is now ranked No. 66 in the live rankings.
After taking a mental health break from the game, the 22-year-old Anisimova hopes this is the start of her career reset.
“I still hopefully have many more years left in my career, and there are many goals that I have for myself that I want to accomplish throughout my career. Like a small one for this year was to break into the top 100, and I've already done that, so I'm really happy about that,” Anisimova said. “It's just small steps in the right direction to hopefully achieve the things that I want to be able to achieve, like winning a Grand Slam, and becoming No. 1 one day, so, yeah, I just, I hope that with all the training I do and staying healthy I can get to that point.”
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Anisimova will face Navarro for a spot in the final—ensuring an American will play for the title. Anisimova was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Navarro in their lone prior meeting at the 2022 Indian Wells.
“She's a player who is definitely on fire right now, she's playing some great tennis,” Anisimova said of Navarro. “I'm sure it will be a tough match tomorrow. I'm going to talk a little bit with my coach about it, because it's been awhile since I've played her, so, yeah, I mean, I'm going to stick to the basics that I've been doing, and just focusing on myself and, yeah, I'm just looking forward to it.”
In an all-American quarterfinal earlier today, Navarro defeated lefty lucky loser Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-6(5) to charge into the Toronto semifinals.
Wimbledon quarterfinalist Navarro improved to 38-16 reaching her fifth semifinal of the season—and continued her quest to crack the Top 10.
“A little bit of relief—it definitely wasn’t easy,” Navarro said in her on-court interview afterward. “Taylor’s a really great, talented player and she made it really tough on me today.
“But just proud of my ability to stick in there on a windy day. Definitely tough conditions, but happy to be moving on.”