World No. 6 American Jessica Pegula defended her Canadian Open singles tennis title in Toronto with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over her compatriot Amanda Anisimova on Monday evening.

The 30-year-old native of Buffalo, New York captured her sixth career WTA singles title and third in a WTA 1000 event. All three have come on hard court, with wins in Montreal last year and Guadalajara in 2022.

With the win, Pegula earned 523,485 U.S. dollars and 1,000 WTA ranking points to become the first woman since Martina Hingis (1999-2000) to win consecutive Canadian Opens.

She holds an incredible 17-2 record in the annual tournament alternating between Toronto and Montreal each year. Last year, Pegula defeated Russian Liudmila Samsonova and reached the semi-finals in 2021 and 2022.

"I've always just played well here, especially Toronto, it's so close to Buffalo. I had a lot of friends, family, my grandparents, my husband was able to come today," said an elated Pegula after the match. "To be able to win the tournament and share that moment with them is really special."

After an early exit in the Paris Olympics with a second round loss to Elina Svitolina, Pegula regained her form in Toronto as the No. 3 seed. She cruised through to the finals without dropping a set.

In the finals, Pegula capitalized on nine double faults from her opponent, including four in the deciding set to clinch the win.

Runner-up Anisimova, who entered the tournament as No. 132, had a more challenging road to the finals, defeating four top-20 ranked opponents, including No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

With her first ever WTA 1000 finals appearance, the 22-year-old earned 650 ranking points to climb 83 spots to No. 49. In January, the former world No. 21 returned to the court in January at the Australian Open following an eight-month absence due to burnout and mental health concerns. 

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