Sevastova ends the reign of Pegula in Montreal with the return of victory

The offer to three tours from Jessica Pegula to the Canadian Open ended on Friday in Montreal.

Anastasija Sevastova, thirty-five, launched a superb 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory against the seeded n ° 3 and the double reigning champion at the National Bank Omnium.

N ° 386 In the WTA PIF ranking, Sevastova obtained entry into the main draw with a protected classification after undergoing a difficult knee injury. She is the least classified player to beat a top 10 player since Angelique Kerber surprised Jelena Ostapenko over a year ago at Indian Wells.

What happened, exactly?

“I don’t know,” Sevastova said in his interview on the field. “In one way or another, I was down 2-0 in the second set and I started playing better and better. Third set, I played really well.

“I’m just trying to stay in the field as long as possible.”

Latvian only played his 24^th WTA level match in the past four years and has lost its last seven meetings against the best 5 opponents. She has had this feat for seven years, at the 2018 US Open, defeating Sloane Stephens in what remains her best result in the Grand Chelem.

She has also won three games in a row for four years.

Sevastova can match his best career result in Canada with a victory on Sunday against Naomi Osaka, a winner 6-2, 6-4 against Jelena Ostapenko. Osaka won three games here, especially in the second round when she saved two match points against Liudmila Samsonova. Sevastova reached the quarter -finals in 2018.

This is the first round 16 of Sevastova to a WTA 1000 since Madrid 2021.

Meanwhile, the seeded n ° 6 Madison took care of the business, returning to defeat his American compatriot Caty McNally 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Keys is now 9-3 in Montreal and Sunday will play the winner of the subsequent match between the seeded n ° 11 Karolina Muchova and Belinda Bencic.

Keys converted his third match point with a massive forehand pass, breaking McNally for the fourth time.

“Today, I did a good rebound work after the first set,” said Keys. “Let go of the first set and move on. Happy I was able to do it.”

This ended a series of 12 consecutive victories for McNally, including titles in Newport at the WTA-125 level and Evansville in ITF. McNally now has 0-7 in his career against the 20 best players.

Pegula played a great first set, breaking Sevastova in the first and last games of the frame, while not facing a break point itself.

The second was more complicated while Sevastova increased to a 4-2 lead. Pegula leveled him at 4, but Sevastova again pierced for an advance of 5-4 and, saving three breaking points in the process, served it.

Given his age and the nature of his first two victories here, Sevastova played a third remarkable set. The victories on Ajla Tomljanovic and the seeded n ° 25 Magda Linette required three drained sets.

Sevastova marked two service breaks against Pegula to lock it. It was better in great moments, saving nine of the 13 break points and converting six out of 10.

After winning the title in Bad Homburg, Pegula lost three of the four, including the first outings in Wimbledon, Washington, DC and Montreal. She finished with 63 unl forced mistakes, her plus in a match this season.