WTA Montreal 1000: Pegula moves into final by beating Swiatek in three sets

American Jessica Pegula, the No 4 seed, edged out Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4 to move into the final of the Canadian Open at Stade IGA in Montreal on Saturday evening.

Swiatek was far from her best and may have benefited from a bizarre incident in the second-set tiebreak, where a burst of “Cotton Eye Joe” was heard mid-point.

no way 'Cotton Eye Joe' comes on mid-point pic.twitter.com/iCYf3hwnPG

— Ryan (@Some1NamedRyan) August 12, 2023

Pegula gathered herself in the decider to become the first woman to beat the world No 1 in Montreal since Venus Williams did it to sister Serena in 2014.

It is only her second win over a player ranked as world No 1, taking her record to 2-5 — but all but one of those five defeats were also to Swiatek.

“I feel great,” Pegula assured. “(It’s) always nice to beat the No 1 player in the world and also to make it to the final. It was a great match. It was tough; kind of a roller-coaster; really up and down. But I’m glad I was able to hold my nerve there at the end.”

“In the third I don’t really know what happened when I was leading,” Swiatek admitted. “I’ve got to watch the match and analyze because for sure she was fighting for every point and I did, as well. But, yeah, it was a tricky match.”

PEGULA PREVAILS 🙌@JPegula takes down Swiatek in three sets 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 advancing to the finals for the first time in Montreal. #NBO23 pic.twitter.com/no3bGLU6nv

— wta (@WTA) August 12, 2023

Pegula, ranked No 3, will face the winner of the match between Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the No 3 seed, and Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 15 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the American defeated Kazakh lucky loser Yulia Putintseva (6-4, 6-4), Italian Jasmine Paolini (6-4, 6-0) and No 6 seed Coco Gauff (6-2, 5-7, 7-5).

Swiatek, ranked No 1, won against Karolina Pliskova (7-6 (6), 6-2), No 14 seed Karolina Muchova (6-1, 4-6, 6-4) and American qualifier Danielle Collins (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Rogers Cup.

Montreal WTA 1000, other semi-final result (Stade IGA, hard, USD 2.788.468):

• Elena Rybakina vs. Liudmila Samsonova

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