Korean American tennis player Jessica Pegula has won the 2023 Canadian Open.
It took less than an hour for Pegula to defeat her opponent Liudmila Samsonova during the final match of the Canadian Open. In 49 minutes, she won the match 6-1, 6-0, Tennis.com reports.
Pegula’s route to the final wasn’t easy. She faced world No. 1 Iga Świątek in the semifinals, defeating her in a difficult match 6-2 6-7(4) 6-4.
During the semifinal match, a critical rally between Pegula and Świątek was interrupted when “Cotton Eyed Joe” began playing on the loudspeakers at center court, CNN reports. Pegula remained unfazed despite the interruption.
“I just thought it was funny,” Pegula told Reuters. “I’ve never had that happen let alone with ‘Cotton-Eye Joe’. I was like ‘is this really happening right now?’ Of all the songs. It was just like, ‘What is going on?’
After winning the final on Sunday, Pegula posted about the victory on Instagram. In the post, she mentioned that her dog Dex had passed away.
“From 2 weeks ago crying on my couch for days wondering how the hell I was going to start this swing – to this week …” she wrote. “This one’s for you Dex, thanks for looking out for me down here.”
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