Pegula beats Sakkari in Montreal, third round match between Anisimova and Raducanu
Pegula successfully converted all five break points she faced on Wednesday. Pegula became the first woman to win 11 consecutive matches in this tournament, the first player to achieve this feat since Serena Williams. Serena won 14 consecutive matches in this competition between 2011 and 2014.
Two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula picked up her 11th straight victory at the Canadian Open, where she beat Maria Sakkari in two narrow sets in the second round. Pegula had a great comeback after saving five set points trailing 4-5 in the first set and won the match 7-5, 6-4.
Pegula successfully converted all five break points she faced on Wednesday. Pegula was the first female to record 11 wins in a row in this tournament, and the first player overall to do so since Serena Williams. Serena had won 14 matches in a row in this tournament between 2011-2014.
The American player will then meet experienced Anastasia Sevastova in the third round. Former world number 11 Sevastova beat Pegula in the 2016 Indian Wells qualifying, but Pegula captured the clay-court win against Sevastova in 2019 Charleston.
Pegula took a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Sakkari made a brilliant comeback and at one point won 12 points in a row. Sakkari got five set points at a 5-4 lead in the first set, but Pegula showed her 'Canadian Magic' to make the score 5-5.
After this, Pegula's service return became even more impressive. She won the next four games to take the set and break lead. In the second set, Pegula took a 4-1 lead, but Sakkari tried to make a comeback and brought the score to 4-3.
In the last game of the match, Pegula had to save a break point, but eventually she won the match and registered another important victory in Canada. Another American player in the top 5, Amanda Anisimova, was also a second-round winner on Wednesday. Fifth seed Anisimova defeated Lulu Sun 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Anisimova, playing her first match after finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon, hit 11 aces to enter the third round for the second consecutive year. Now in the third round, Anisimova will face 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who is a Grand Slam winner.
Earlier, Naomi Osaka made a strong comeback to beat 13th seed Ludmila Samsonova 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 37 minutes. Osaka was trailing 3-5 in the first set and then 3-5 in the second set and also saved two match points.
