Tennis: Pegula overpowers Samsonova to clinch Montreal Open crown

MONTREAL, Canada -- Jessica Pegula overpowered a weary Liudmila Samsonova to clinch the second WTA 1000 title of her career on Sunday with a victory in the Montreal Open.

The 29-year-old American world number three dominated her Russian opponent from start to finish to claim a whirlwind 6-1, 6-0 triumph in just 49 minutes.

Fifteenth-seed Samsonova had battled through to the final after winning a gruelling three-set semi-final earlier Sunday against third seed Elena Rybakina in a match held over from Saturday due to torrential rain.

But the challenge of winning twice in one day ultimately proved too much for Samsonova, a rampant Pegula determined to claim her second elite WTA title after victory in Guadalajara last year.

"I know obviously physically she wasn't feeling her best, but at the same time I played a really clean match," Pegula said after her win.

"I don't think I made any unforced errors or anything. I played kind of a perfect match."

Pegula admitted, however, that she would have preferred to have faced a properly rested Samsonova.

"It's not ideal... it sucks when you feel like you're not on a really fair playing ground, especially someone like her who is such a great player," Pegula said.

Samsonova, meanwhile, said the schedule had taken its toll, with little time to rest and recuperate between the semi-final and the final.

"I didn't have time to regenerate because I was in the physio room to tape all my body, and it takes one hour. I was out of the court and then again in, it was strange," she said.

Pegula, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, was quickly into her groove with an early break in the opening set to go 3-1 up.

A superb crosscourt forehand put her 4-1 up before the visibly tired Samsonova was broken again in the sixth game to leave Pegula serving for the set.

Pegula, who defeated world number one Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals on Saturday, slammed down an ace to move to set point, then bludgeoned another ace to close out the set.

Samsonova's troubles continued in the second set, with a double fault gifting Pegula a break in the opening game.

From that point, it became simply a question of how quickly Pegula would wrap up victory, and the American was in no mood to drag out the second set.

A brilliant backhand crosscourt volley helped set up a break for a 3-0 lead and she then reeled off three more games to seal an emphatic win.

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Rybakina marches on in Miami, Pegula progresses

MIAMI GARDENS -- Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 11 matches as she booked her place in the Miami Open quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Belgium's Elise Mertens on Monday.

Rybakina is looking to complete the "Sunshine Double" after her triumph in Indian Wells but she was far from euphoric after her victory.

"Physically I'm not the freshest, but I'm happy that I'm managing and finding my way. To be in a quarter-final is great and hopefully I'm going to play better," she said.

The Kazakh allowed Mertens to break in the sixth game of the first set but then two double faults from the Belgian allowed Rybakina to swiftly break back and then she struck again to take the opening set.

The Wimbledon champion broke early in the second set and never looked back and she will now face Italian Martina Trevisan in the quarters.

Trevisan beat former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3.

"It's a tricky one, she's lefty so I need to adjust and it's going to be a tough match since we never played each other. I'll try to recover and be more fresh physically," Rybakina said.

All 16 survivors in the tournament were in action on "Manic Monday" at Hard Rock Stadium where the quarter-final line-up will be set.

American Jessica Pegula looked comfortable and in command of her game as she beat Poland's Magda Linette 6-1, 7-5.

World number three Pegula got off to a flying start - she struck seven winners in the opening nine minutes and won the first three games. With only 19 minutes on the clock she was 5-0 up.

The second set was a different story though with Linette grabbing a 5-2 lead. However, she twice let set point slip on her serve and Pegula went on to win the final five games to secure victory.

Pegula had lamented her slow starts at Indian Wells but said her rapid-fire opening to matches in Miami had not been part of any strategy.

"It wasn't something I was really thinking about. I think it just has been happening that way, which is nice," she said.

"It was kind of a weird match. I had strings of games where I was playing really well, then (went) a little bit off. For the most part I was able string together good games, so that's always a good sign," she said.

The American will face Anastasia Potapova after the Russian beat China's Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to continue her impressive run.

Romanian Sorana Cirstea followed up her quarter-final at Indian Wells by securing another last eight appearance thanks to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, win over Czech Marketa Vondrousova.

Agence France-Presse