The 2024 National Bank Open final in Toronto will feature a showdown between two American players: reigning champion Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova.
Amanda Anisimova, at 22 years old, took a break from competition last season to focus on her mental health, causing her WTA ranking to fall outside the Top 350. However, she has made a strong comeback on the hard-court circuit leading up to the US Open. Despite playing only eleven matches in 2023, she has played ten in the last 16 days, including a quarterfinal run at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C., as a qualifier, and now reaching the final of the National Bank Open.
In a windy all-American semifinal in Toronto, Anisimova overcame the eighth seed, Emma Navarro, in a challenging match ending 6-3 2-6 6-2. The former world No. 21, now ranked No. 132, has defeated four Top 20 players in Toronto, including No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 12 Daria Kasatkina, No. 15 Navarro, and No. 17 Anna Kalinskaya. This impressive performance makes Anisimova the lowest-ranked finalist at the tournament in 40 years and the second-lowest-ranked finalist in a WTA 1000 event in the past 15 years.
Anisimova will face third seed Jessica Pegula in the final, the defending champion who clinched the title last year by defeating Liudmila Samsonova. Pegula earned her spot in this year’s final by defeating Russia’s Diana Shnaider 6-4 6-3 in the semifinals, the only non-American among the final four in Toronto.
The National Bank Open final on Monday will be the third meeting between Pegula and Anisimova, with Pegula holding a 2-0 lead in their head-to-head matchups. Pegula is considered the favorite going into the match, not only due to her positive record against Anisimova and higher ranking but also because of her outstanding performance in this tournament, where she boasts a 16-2 main-draw record.
