MONTREAL — Jessica Pegula routed Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday to win the National Bank Open for her third career WTA Tour victory.
Pegula, the 29-year-old American seeded fourth, topped Samsonova after the 15th-seeded Russian beat third-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 earlier Sunday in a rain-delayed semifinal.
“It’s tough, it sucks, I feel bad that we weren’t able to play on a more fair playing ground,” Pegula said after securing her second WTA 1000 title.
Pegula won her semifinal Saturday, edging top-ranked Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4. She was well aware of the edge she carried into the match and made sure to credit Samsonova, whose path to the final also included a win over reigning Australian Open champion and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
“To me, she should be a top-10 player, hopefully she gets there and she’s had great results,” Pegula said. “So kudos to her and I feel bad that it wasn’t the way it should have been, but I guess that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
Pegula also won tour titles in 2019 in Washington and 2022 in Guadalajara. Her parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.
The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.