Outsider flips the script to dethrone Pegula in Canada

Anastasija Sevastova denied the hat-trick dream of Jessica Pegula on Friday, knocking the holder out in the third round of the WTA Montreal event.

The 35-year-old Latvian outsider ranked 386 posted a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 fightback to send the third-seed home from the event she has won twice. 

The winner was puzzled by her unexpected success. “Somehow, I was down 2-0 in the second set and started to play better and better. Third set, I played really good.

“Just trying to stay on the court as long as possible.”

Pegula admitted she was shut down on the day. “It was a weird match for me. I felt like I had total control, and then I just played a couple of terrible games for, like, three games.

“That kind of totally flipped the momentum of the match, and I went from being up a set in 2-0 to being down very quickly. I just didn’t feel like I maybe made her earn that at that point. I think I kind of gave that away.

“I think I was more annoyed with my performance in the middle of that second set.”

Sevastova had been plagued by knee problems and was playing only her24th WTA match in the past four years.

She last defeated a top five opponent seven years ago at the 2018 US Open, ( Sloane Stephens) and last won three matches in a row four years ago.

She will now face four-time Grand Slam champion and another comeback artist in Naomi Osaka, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Jelena Ostapenko.

Pegula said she has work to do before the upcoming Cincinnati event – where she played the 2024 final – and the Open

“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. It really bothers me. I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I don’t like having to say that,” she said.

“I feel like I’ve gone through phases in my career, a few tournaments, where I feel like that sometimes, and you have to figure out how to get out of it and not feel sorry for yourself or make excuses. I’ve got figure it out.”