The National Bank Open, formerly Rogers Cup

Pegula rises to the occasion, fights off Ons Jabeur and the crowd to reach the semis

August 14, 2021

Jean-Guy Fugère

On Friday night, World No.30 Jessica Pegula of the US booked the very last spot in the semifinals of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.

She disposed of crowd favourite Ons Jabeur (13) of Tunisia in an 88-minute match that ended on a complex 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0 score.

At the outset, Jabeur seemed to be coasting to a decisive victory. She closed out the one-sided opening set in 19 minutes and even served for the match at 5-3 and 40-0 in the second. Then, things started to crumble.

Pegula took total control of the confrontation, hitting winner after winner and forcing her opponent to make error after error.

Still, the stats aren’t so clear-cut. There were zero aces for the American versus six for her opponent, and Pegula ended the hostilities with 74 points versus 75 for Jabeur, who broke her rival three times early on and then later lost her serve four times.

Last night, Ons Jabeur sent Bianca Andreescu home, and Pegula overpowered Danielle Collins at 1:12 a.m.

Dabrowski moves on

Canadian doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Luisa Stefani of Brazil caused an upset to reach the semifinals of their draw.

It took them only 57 minutes to oust no.1 seeds Elise Mertens of Belgium and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Rogers Court.

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