Anastasija Sevastova Shocks Jessica Pegula! Ends 11-Match Streak

Last Updated:August 02, 2025, 08:32 IST

Sevastova upset Pegula at the WTA Canadian Open, ending Pegula's 11-match streak. Sevastova will face Naomi Osaka next. Swiatek and Keys also advanced.

Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia plays a backhand. (AFP)

Anastasija Sevastova shocked the two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory on Friday, earning a fourth-round match against Naomi Osaka at the WTA Canadian Open.

Sevastova, previously ranked 11th in the world but now positioned 386th, ended Pegula’s impressive 11-match winning streak at the WTA Canada, the longest since Serena Williams achieved 14 consecutive wins in 2011, 2013, and 2014.

Sevastova will aim to continue her successful run in Montreal by facing Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan, who defeated another Latvian player, 22nd seed Jelena Ostapenko, 6-2, 6-4.

Reflecting on her performance, Sevastova said, “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," added Sevastova, who has contended with injuries since returning from maternity leave in February 2024.

In the night session, second-seeded Iga Swiatek, participating in her first tournament since winning Wimbledon, swiftly advanced to the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Germany’s Eva Lys. Swiatek will next face Denmark’s Clara Tauson, who defeated Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-3, 6-0.

Pegula, last year’s US Open runner-up, making her best Slam showing, was the first woman to win consecutive Canadian Open titles since Martina Hingis in 1999-2000. However, she has been struggling recently, losing her opening matches at Wimbledon and in Washington last week.

The American player broke at the beginning of the match and again at love to secure the first set. Yet, she couldn’t sustain her early break in the second set, with Sevastova breaking for a 5-4 lead and thwarting Pegula’s three break opportunities before holding the final game to force a third set, where she took a commanding 4-1 lead en route to victory.

‘Weird Match’

“It was a weird match for me," Pegula remarked. “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, a two-time champion at both the US and Australian Opens, is one match away from her first quarter-final appearance at either a Grand Slam or WTA 1000 event since returning from maternity leave at the start of 2024. Now ranked 49th, Osaka broke on a double fault to claim the first set in 30 minutes and surged to a 3-1 lead in the second set. They exchanged breaks before Osaka served for the match with a 5-3 lead, but Ostapenko saved a match point with a forehand crosscourt winner and broke when Osaka’s forehand went beyond the baseline. The Japanese star responded by breaking Ostapenko at love in the final game.

Osaka commented, “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."

Australian Open champion Madison Keys, seeded sixth, defeated fellow American Caty McNally 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 and will next meet Karolina Muchova, who overcame Belinda Bencic with a 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-3 win.

Fifth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova, rebounding this week after a crushing 6-0, 6-0 loss to Swiatek in the Wimbledon final, dominated Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-2, 6-1. She will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina next, who triumphed over Russian Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-1.

With AFP Inputs

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Location :

Montreal, Canada

First Published:

August 02, 2025, 08:32 IST

News sports Anastasija Sevastova Shocks Jessica Pegula! Ends 11-Match Streak

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