by Anastasija Sevastova was the two-time defending champion Jessica Pegula 3-6, 6: 4, 6: 1 on Friday to reach the fourth round of the WTA Canadian Open, where she will compete against Naomi Osaka.
Sevastova, the number 386 of the world from Latvia, brought Pegula’s 11-game profit strip in fourth place, the longest since Serena Williams, which achieved 14 successive victories in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
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Sevastova, 35, won the youngest of her four career -WTA titles at the Ostic Open 2019 in her home country.
She will try to extend her Montreal run in a round of 16 meetings with Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan, who repressed another Latvian Lettlett, Jelena Ostapenko, 6-2, 6-4.
Pegula, who last year in her best slam show in the US open-placed, was the first woman who has been rolling back since Martina Hingis in 1999-2000.
Osaka, twice winner of the USA and Australian, has a match from her first quarter-finals run at a Grand Slam or WTA 1000 event since she returned from maternity leave at the beginning of 2024.
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Sevastova, who returned from her own maternity leave in February 2024, collected her first victory over a top five opponent since he defeated the Czech Karolina Pliskova in 2017.
Pegula broke to open the match and claim the first set again when Sevastova sent a forehand.
In the second set, a forehand winner deserved a break for a 5: 4 lead and refused Pegula with three break chances before forced a third set in the last game.
Pegula sent a forehand with a width to give up a break, and a 2-1 lead to Sevastova, which broke again to achieve a 4-1 lead when Pegula was pending.
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Sevastova stayed at 5: 1 and broke again to a forehand winner to end the game after an hour and 41 minutes.
“It was a strange match for me,” said Pegula. “I felt like I had total control, and then I only played a few terrible games, like three games.
“That totally turned the dynamics of the game, and I went from a set and 2-0 to be very quick.
“I don’t really feel like playing great tennis,” Pegula admitted. “Sometimes I am, but I feel very up and down, somehow sloppy, which I don’t like. I have to find out.”
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World number 49 Osaka broke out a double mistake to record the first set in 30 minutes.
In the second set, Ostapenko achieved a forehand to hand over a break for a 3-1 lead.
After a further exchange of breaks, Osaka served for the match with a 5: 3 lead, but Ostapenko saved a match point on a forehand cross-court winner and broke when Osaka sent a forehand beyond the baseline.
– Keep step, stay solid –
The Japanese star replied by breaking Ostapenko near Love in the last game.
“Admittedly, she broke me a few times, but she is a really good returnee, so I can’t take it personally,” said Osaka.
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“I went in there and knew that she was a great player and if I give her a chance, she will meet a winner on me, so I only tried to keep my pace and stay as solid as possible.”
Also advanced was Australian Open Champion Madison Keys, who defeated the American Caty McNally 2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 3.
The later games include the Polish second seed IGA Swiatek against Germany’s Eva Lys, whereby the winner is progressing to Tauson.
The British US Open winner from Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open, competes against the fifth seeds Amanda Anisimova.
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