La Jornada – Pegula reached the final of the WTA 1000 in Canada with victory over Swiatek

Montreal. American Jessica Pegula defeated Polish world number one Iga Swiatek today, Saturday, in the semi-finals of the Canadian Open, where Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich defeated Australian Alex de Minor.

Pegula, who finished third in the women’s ranking, ended Swiatek’s illusions of playing his first WTA 1000 final, which is being held this year in Montreal.

The American fought off a comeback attempt from Swiatek and won 6-2, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 in a match in which both suffered adversity with their services, totaling 19 breaks.

“It’s a great feeling. There’s no better way to win it” (the final), exclaimed a jubilant Pegula on court.

“It was a tough match. I felt like I was in control. But that’s what a world number one and a champion like her do. She played some really great tennis at the end of the second and third set. So she made me win it.”

Pegula, last year’s WTA 1000 champion in Guadalajara, will fight Sunday for her second title in the category against the winner of the semi-final between Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina and Russia’s Lyudmila Samsonova.

Swatik, who had been victorious in five of his seven meetings against Pegula, had a disastrous service match, suffering 11 service breaks.

The Pole, a four-time Grand Slam winner, was able to lift the opening set and take a 2-4 lead in the decider, but then managed to collect only three points in the next four matches, facilitating Pegola’s victory afterwards. 32 minutes of play.

Swiatek, who will continue as the world rankings leader on Monday, will now travel to Cincinnati to compete in the final test before defending her title at the US Open (August 28-September 10).

De Minor, first runner-up

In the men’s tournament, which is being held in Toronto, Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich left at the gates of the Masters 1000 final when Alex de Minaur swept him 6-1, 6-3.

The Australian, 18th in the world rankings, barely needed an hour and 17 minutes to overtake Davidovic (37) and seal his ticket to the Masters 1000 final.

And his opponent will be eliminated from the other semi-final on Saturday between the Italian Yannick Sinner and the American Tommy Paul, who presented the surprise of the week on Friday by eliminating the world number one, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

With Alcaraz and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev gone, at the hands of de Minaur, the promising underdog has a golden opportunity to win his first major title.

For his part, De Miñaur also gave his credentials for victory with an unacceptable performance against Davidovich, who ended up being a victim of his urging.

The 24-year-old tennis player from Malaga has been hurried in his bid to make a comeback to the Masters 1000 final after falling last year on the clay courts of Monte Carlo to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Far from the extraordinary toughness with which he led opponents such as Alexander Zverev and Casper Rudd, the Spaniard was erratic from the start of the match, committing as many as 22 unforced errors, four from the Australian.

The Australian, with two early service breaks, took the first set in just 31 minutes of play. In the second set, Davidovich had two more chips to fall behind 3-0.

The Spaniard could barely hold his head back to close at 2-4 but wreckage from his serve allowed the Australian to seal victory on the fast track.

De Minaur, with a Uruguayan father and a Spanish mother, will fight on Sunday for the eighth title in his career and the second this year, after the title he achieved in March on the hard courts in Acapulco.