Amid rough stretch, Jessica Pegula hopes to 'find some magic' in Canada

Jessica Pegula has won the Canadian Open in each of the past two years and this year, the tournament comes at the perfect time, giving her a chance to rediscover her form after first round losses both at Wimbledon and in Washington D.C.

For nearly a century, the Peace Bridge has linked Buffalo with Fort Erie, Ontario. It’s a modest three-lane span a little over a mile long that joins the United States and Canada.

Thirty-one years ago, Jessica Pegula was born in Buffalo. That proximity to Canada might begin to explain the affinity she has developed for that great country to the north.

Pegula enters the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montreal as the No. 3 seed as well as the two-time Canadian Open defending champion, going back to her win here in 2023 and last year’s title in Toronto.

The moderator of her Sunday press conference wasted no time cutting to the chase:

“Jessica, welcome to Montreal. Two-time champion, How are you feeling ahead of making it a three-peat?”

Pegula had the good grace to smile.

“Everyone is, like, 'Oh, three-peat, three-peat,’” she said. “That’s a long ways away, but yeah, I’m hoping that I can kind of find some magic here in Canada that I’ve been able to kind of summon over the last few years. Hopefully play some good tennis.”

Pegula’s journey at the first of back-to-back WTA 1000s begins on Wednesday with a second-round match against Maria Sakkari, a three-set winner over Canadian wild card Carson Branstine. Pegula holds a tenuous 6-5 head-to-head advantage and this 12th meeting will be the most against any Hologic WTA Tour player.

Magic might fall short of the alchemy Pegula has produced in Canada.

A dozen years ago, at the age of 19, she made her debut losing in the first round of qualifying to Chanelle Scheepers. Pegula made the Montreal semifinals in 2021 and, one year later, the semifinals again in Toronto.

She won the tournament in Montreal in 2023, defeating Liudmila Samsonova in the final and last year it was Amanda Anisimova in the Toronto final. Pegula has beaten Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Ons Jabeur, Danielle Collins and Karolina Pliskova on these Canadian hard courts.

Her overall record is a sterling 17-2 (.895). Only Monica Seles (31-3, .912) was better.

Canada comes at a good time for Pegula, who lost in the first round at Wimbledon and her opening match last week in Washington, D.C., respectively, to Elisabetta Cocciaretto and eventual champion Leylah Fernandez.

“I’m just more comfortable on the hard a little bit,” Pegula told reporters. “I think the courts are always a little bit quicker in Canada as well, which I think kind of suits my game. Maybe that’s why I feel like I’ve been able to adjust maybe a little bit faster. It’s the surface I feel most comfortable on and most comfortable moving on, as well.

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“Kind of just wanting to reset again here in Montreal and hopefully use what I’ve been working on the last few weeks and compete hard and see what happens.”

Pegula is trying to equal Seles as the only woman to win three straight titles in Canada. Seles actually won four consecutive titles from 1995-98. Pegula is also looking to join Serena Williams (Miami) and Sabalenka (Wuhan) as the only women since 2009 to win three straight editions of a WTA 1000.

Two years ago, it was a hectic scene in Montreal with stormy weather, late finishes and a compressed schedule. Pegula won five matches in the span of five days. She upset World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and the 6-1, 6-0 win over Samsonova was over in 49 minutes.

This year, the schedule is expanded slightly. Montreal and Cincinnati will split three weeks between them, creating a little more space.

“I think this format is a little bit different,” Pegula said. “I think it’s a little bit of a hybrid between what we’ve seen with Madrid and Rome or Indian Wells and Miami. I’m, honestly, just more interested to see how it kind of turns out and how it feels for the players and for the fans, because I think it’s kind of like meeting in the middle.”

Not unlike the Peace Bridge.

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