Pegula leads way into WTA quarter-finals at rainy Montreal

Pegula leads way into WTA quarter-finals at rainy Montreal

Sports

Jessica Pegula grabbed the first quarter-final berth at the WTA Montreal Open on Thursday.

MONTREAL (AFP) – Fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula grabbed the first quarter-final berth at the WTA Montreal Open on Thursday with a crisp 6-4, 6-0 victory over Jasmine Paolini.

Pegula fired six aces and broke Paolini five times, needing just 69 minutes to post her fifth win in as many meetings with the Italian.

She was safely through before play was suspended because of rain.

World number one Iga Swiatek had won one set and surrendered the second against Czech Karolina Muchova when the storm rolled in.

Pegula, who has reached the semi-finals at the last two Canadian tournaments, next faces either her doubles partner Coco Gauff or Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Gauff, who captured her fourth career title on Sunday in Washington, is seeded sixth.

Ninth-seeded Vondrousova nabbed her first Grand Slam title last month at the All-England club, stunning Ons Jabeur in the final to become the first unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era.