Anastasija Sevastova topples Jessica Pegula to book date with Naomi Osaka
Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia plays a forehand against Jessica Pegula of the United States during their third-round clash at the WTA Canadian Open.
MONTREAL – Anastasija Sevastova was just trying to survive at the WTA Canadian Open.
Somehow, she stunned two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Aug 1 to book a fourth-round clash with Naomi Osaka on Aug 4.
Sevastova, a former world No. 11 now ranked 386th, snapped fourth-ranked Pegula's 11-match WTA Canada win streak, the longest since Serena Williams reeled off 14 consecutive wins in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
She will try to extend her Montreal run in a round-of-16 meeting with Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan who ousted another Latvian, 22nd seed Jelena Ostapenko, 6-2, 6-4.
'Somehow, I was down 2-0 in the second set and started to play better and better,' Sevastova said.
'Third set I played really good.'
The 35-year-old, who has dealt with injury since returning from maternity leave in February 2024, added: 'Just trying to stay on the court as long as possible.'
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Pegula, last year's US Open runner-up in her best Slam showing, was the first woman to win back-to-back Canadian Open titles since Martina Hingis in 1999-2000.
But she has struggled in recent months, dropping her openers at Wimbledon and at Washington last week.
'It was a weird match for me,' the American said. 'I felt like I had total control and then I just played a couple of terrible games for, like, three games.
'That totally flipped the momentum of the match, and I went from being up a set and 2-0 to being down very quickly. I don't really feel like I'm playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy, which I don't like. I've got to figure it out.'
Osaka, twice a winner at both the US and Australian Opens, is one match away from her first quarter-final run at either a Grand Slam or WTA 1000 event since she returned from maternity leave at the start of 2024.
Now ranked 49th, the Japanese broke on a double fault by Ostapenko to capture the first set in 30 minutes and raced to a 3-1 lead in the second.
They exchanged breaks before Osaka served for the match with a 5-3 lead, but Ostapenko saved a match point and broke when Osaka sent a forehand beyond the baseline.
The Japanese star responded by breaking her opponent at love in the final game.
'I went in there knowing she's a great player and if I give her a chance she's going to hit a winner on me, so I just tried to keep my pace and stay as solid as I could,' Osaka said.
In the night session, second-seeded Iga Swiatek – playing her first tournament since winning Wimbledon – raced into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Germany's Eva Lys.
The Pole next faces Denmark's Clara Tauson, who beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-3, 6-0.
Australian Open champion Madison Keys, seeded sixth, beat fellow American Caty McNally 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 and will next meet Karolina Muchova, a 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-3 winner over Belinda Bencic. AFP
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