Tennis players wait for the rain to stop during the ATP/WTA 1000 tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, Thursday (8/10/2023), local time. Rain postponed a number of tournament matches.
MONTREAL, SATURDAY – Heavy rain has changed the schedule of the Canadian women’s WTA 1000 tennis tournament in Montreal. Several tennis players were affected and had to play twice a day, including potential opponent Jessica Pegula in the final.
Pegula, the American fourth seed, will appear in the Canadian WTA 1000 final for the first time after eliminating world number one Iga Swiatek in the semi-final. In the semifinals of the first session, Friday (8/12/2023) afternoon local time or early Saturday morning Indonesian time at IGA Stadium, Pegula won with a score of 6-2, 6-7 ( 4), 6-4.
“Iga always makes the match close. “I am also happy that I can beat the world number one because it can increase my confidence for the final and other tournaments,” Pegula said.
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Meanwhile, Swiatek, although she tried to play aggressively, felt that there were factors that differentiated her from Pegula and had an influence on the results. “I try to put pressure on him, but sometimes I don’t succeed because I make a lot of mistakes,” Swiatek said.
Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek hits the ball against Karolina Muchova (Czech) during the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal, Canada, Thursday (10/8/2023).
Although she has never participated in a Canadian WTA 1000 final, Pegula will be participating in her third final in a WTA 1000 level tournament. Two more finals will take place in 2022, either in Madrid (when she lost to Ons Jabeur) and when she won the Guadalajara tournament. This title is one of two WTA titles for Pegula in addition to the WTA Washington 2019.
However, to win the third title, the daughter of the owner of football and hockey clubs in the United States, Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, had to wait for her opponent several hours before the match. The other semi-final, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, was pushed back to Sunday afternoon as heavy rain hit Montreal on Saturday evening.
The semi-finals featured third seed Elena Rybakina and Liudmila Samsonova. So, while Pegula has a day off between the semi-finals and the final, Rybakina or Samsonova must play the semi-finals and the final on the same day.
Favorite position is a squeeze, but squeeze is a positive thing for me. Not everyone can get this. However, Alex is an extraordinary tennis player. He played well all week.
They will compete for tickets to the final at 1:30 p.m. local time, and the winner will face Pegula, at the earliest, at 5:30 p.m. or after having had sufficient rest time. This condition should benefit Pegula as she can appear fresher in the final than her potential opponents, Rybakina or Samsonova.
Spectators wait for the rain to stop while watching a rainbow during the ATP/WTA 1000 tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, Thursday (10/8/2023), local time. Rain postponed a number of tournament matches.
Samsonova even saw her match postponed for the second time during her presence in Montreal this year. The Russian tennis player played the third round (against Aryna Sabalenka) and the quarter-finals (Belinda Bencic) in five sets in one day, Friday. If she beats Rybakina in the semifinals, Samsonova will compete for the second time twice in one day.
Due to Friday’s extra match, Rybakina’s quarterfinal against Daria Kasatkina in the final session on the main court did not start until around 11:30 p.m. The close competition lasted three hours and 27 minutes, so both players only finished the competition before 03:00 on Saturday. Rybakina won with a score of 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8).
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After winning this brutal match, Rybakina only hoped that her physical condition could recover. The 2022 Wimbledon champion finally had a day off to play the semifinals, but he also lost because he would have two important rounds (if he qualified for the final) in one day.
Favorite sinner to win
At the Canadian men’s ATP Masters 1000 tournament at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto, Tommy Paul could not create another surprise as he lost to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals with a score of 4-6, 4-6 on Saturday . Paul, the American tennis player ranked 14th in the world, caused a surprise by eliminating world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner celebrates his first set victory against Gaël Monfils (France) during the ATP tournament in Montreal, Canada, August 11, 2023.
Not only this time Paul beat Alcaraz. At the same tournament last year, Paul eliminated the Spaniard in the second round.
In the summit match, Sinner will face his Toronto doubles partner, Alex de Minaur. The Australian tennis player who beat second seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-1, 6-3.
With top ten status in the world, seeded seventh in Toronto and consistently winning in four meetings with Minaur, Sinner is the favorite to win. “The preferred position is pressure, but pressure is a positive thing for me. Not everyone can get this. However, Alex is an extraordinary tennis player. “He played well all week,” Sinner said.
The meeting between the two will be a competition for the first ATP Masters 1000 title. Sinner made the finals of the 2021 and 2023 Miami Masters, but always lost. As for De Minaur, this was his first ATP Masters 1000 final after failing to advance past the third round in 35 previous tournaments. (AFP/Reuters)
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