The final of the 2023 WTA National Bank Open in Montral is finally set and it will be Jessica Pegula against Liudmila Samsonova. The Russian will be seeking the biggest title of her career. Pegula already won at this level in Guadalajara last year. Who do you think will take home the trophy?
WTA Montreal Final Prediction
Jessica Pegula vs Liudmila Samsonova
Head-to-head: Pegula 2-1
Jessica Pegula continues to produce deep runs with remarkable consistency, getting to the quarterfinals in ten out of thirteen events she has played all year. It’s just her second final of the season though with the previous one being a blowout loss to Iga Swiatek in Doha. The World No. 1 is precisely who she had to eliminate in the final four in Montreal, but the match itself wasn’t that good. Swiatek was all over the place and couldn’t find her timing throughout the three-set affair, still almost pulling off the comeback.
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Liudmila Samsonova hasn’t quite reached the heights that we were expecting from her this year, but maybe there’s still time. This is her favorite part of the season though and in 2023, she clinched back-to-back titles in Washington and Cleveland before reaching the second week at the US Open. Now she makes her first WTA 1000 final and is currently 8-1 in the North American hard court swing. Once she gets on this sort of a run, she’s usually extremely tough to stop.
They certainly are quite evenly matched with all three of their meetings so far going three. Samsonova’s upside might be a bit stronger, but her playstyle is also way less repeatable. Due to rain on Saturday, she’s actually forced to play twice today and as you can’t really split them, this might as well be the deciding factor. The semifinal with Rybakina wasn’t overly physical, but the mental and physical toll will still be there. We’ll see if Samsonova can fight through it. The more damage she can get done with the serve and forehand, the higher her winning chances will be.
Prediction: Pegula in 3
Main Photo Credit: Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports
