Jessica Pegula, Andrey Rublev gain berths in women’s, men’s National Bank Open finals

It will be an all-American final in women’s singles at the National Bank Open.

Defending champion and third-seed Jessica Pegula defeated No. 14 Diana Shnaider of Russia 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to book a spot in Monday’s title match at 6 p.m. ET in Toronto.

The world No. 6 will face Amanda Anisimova after she defeated compatriot and No. 8 seed Emma Navarro 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Anisimova is the lowest-ranked player at No. 132 to make the NBO semis since Sloane Stephens (No. 934) in 2017.

She also picked up her fourth victory against a top-20 opponent this week after taking down No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 12 Daria Kasatakina and No. 17 Anna Kalinskaya.

Pegula improved to 16-2 all-time at the NBO, including last year’s victory that followed back-to-back final four appearances at the $3.2-million US event.

Anisimova took a seat as the unpredictable wind continued to swirl around Sobeys Stadium.

Blister and ankle issues

Having dominated the first set and on her heels in the second, the 22-year-old ascending the WTA Tour rankings following an eight-month break to work on her mental health had finally been granted a medical timeout to deal with a blister.

As the trainer taped that bothersome left foot just off Centre Court, Anisimova did her best to regroup and take stock of the situation.

“Trying to relax and calm my nerves,” said the 132nd-ranked player entering this week. “Telling myself to stay calm and just try and push through.”

The pain — and the adversity — was quickly brushed aside.

Anisimova’s time away from the game — she didn’t play competitively from May 2023 until the Australian Open in January — included going to college for a semester and getting to experience “a normal life” after success early in her career that included making the 2019 French Open semifinals at age 17.

Anisimova, however, was always going to get back swinging a racket.

The swirling winds at York University have been a story all week, but were even more of a factor Sunday with gusts of more than 40 km/h.

“You could start a point and the wind’s going in one direction,” Navarro said. “And by the end of the point it’s going in a different direction.”

Anisimova said the “stressful” conditions impacted both players.

“When she’s hitting her spots she’s really, really tough to beat,” Navarro said. “She can take any ball that her opponent hits and rip to either corner.”

Anisimova will look to keep that going Monday as she continues her climb.

Rublev prevails after rain delay

Andrey Rublev had one victory in five previous appearances at the National Bank Open. This year, he might leave Montreal  with a Masters 1000 title.

The fifth-seeded Rublev dispatched unseeded Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 6-4, 6-2 Sunday night in a match interrupted by rain for about 90 minutes early in the second set.

In Monday’s final at 7:30 p.m., the 26-year-old Russian will face another unseeded player, Australian Alexei Popyrin.

“After the rain delay when I come back, I was playing much, much better. I was more focused. I was able to dictate my terms. I was able to play more aggressive,” said Rublev, who was beaten by Arnaldi in straight sets in the third round of Roland Garros in May.

Popyrin, 24, followed Rublev into the court and in his second match of the day, defeated American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (0), 6-3.

Rain has plagued this year’s edition of the tournament, requiring several of the competitors to play two matches a day, some two days in a row.

So it helped Rublev that Arnaldi had a late quarterfinal match on Saturday, his second match of the day. He got to bed after 3 a.m. and seven hours later, was back on site.

Eyeing 1st Masters 1000 title

“For sure today Andrey played really good tennis. He is playing the whole tournament good tennis. I didn’t find a way to put pressure on him today, but I used a lot of energy during this tournament,” Arnaldi said.

Ranked No. 8 (he’ll rise to No. 6 after this tournament), Rublev will be the heavy favourite against No. 62-ranked Popyrin on Monday night. He’ll be looking for his third career title at the Masters 1000 level, and his first on a hard court.

Like Arnaldi, Popyrin defeated Rublev the last time they met, in the second round of the Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo in April. Rublev was the defending champion there.

The other semifinal looked destined to have No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev and No. 4 seed Hubert Hurkacz meet, just the way the draw drew it up.

Instead, the unseeded Korda met the unseeded Popyrin.

Popyrin defeated Hurkacz 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 earlier in the day despite converting just three break points in 20 opportunities.

And in his first meeting against world No. 4 Zverev, Korda pulled off a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-4 upset win.

But it all seemed to take a fair bit of wind out of the sails of the 24-year-old American, who came out rather flat against Popyrin in their semifinal nightcap, in much chillier conditions, and never really warmed up.

In the women’s doubles final, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe will face Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk at 7:15 p.m. after getting past Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and younger sister Bianca 6-2, 6-4.

“Super happy,” said the 32-year-old Dabrowski, who won mixed doubles bronze for Canada at the Paris Olympics with Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. “We played a lot more clinical than our other matches to change that within basically one or two days, great improvement.”