Pegula’s triumph and Popyrin’s rise: Roddick reviews Canadian Open

Andy Roddick analysed the victories of Jessica Pegula and Alexei Popyrin at the Canadian Open. The former world No. 1 praised his compatriot for defending her title, this time in Toronto (having won in Montreal in 2023), although he acknowledged that her chances in Cincinnati and the US Open look challenging.

On the other hand, Roddick noted that Popyrin had an outstanding performance in Canada, highlighting his four wins against top-20 players along the way. In a new episode of "Served with Roddick," he analysed the performances of both champions in Toronto and Montreal.

The Canadian Open was perhaps the most unusual WTA 1000 and Masters event of the year. Held just a week after the Olympic Games, it saw major withdrawals from the women’s and men’s draws, including Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Lorenzo Musetti, Iga Swiatek, Zheng Qinwen, and Elena Rybakina.

With an open draw, the women’s side saw Jessica Pegula emerge as the tournament’s big winner, successfully defending her 2023 title. Pegula capitalised on a favourable draw and only faced one seeded player en route to the title (Diana Shnaider in the semifinals, 14th seed). In the final, she defeated a rejuvenated Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

“Jess Pegula came in great, off to a fast start against [Amanda] Anisimova. Credit to Anisimova as she fights back,” Andy Roddick said. “Then Pegula in the third set might have played the best set of her year so far this year. So, props to her. But Jess Pegula, props on a well-fought victory, needed, and hopefully continued success.”

For the 2003 US Open champion, Pegula will face challenges in the upcoming American hardcourt tournaments: “Well she got a better opportunity than anyone else. I don’t know, it’s so hard. It is a little bit easier now than it used to be just because we used to not have byes. If she could win a couple of matches and since she is in Cincy, that’s great preparation for New York,” the former world No. 1 added. “I don't want to see her go and lose in the second round, but if she can put together two, three, four wins, that’s massive. Then you’re fighting your body and mental fatigue and all that.”

"But there’s enough recovery time between where you can stretch your body a little bit. You get a full week off before New York. The courts are going to be great for her. They are slippery, the balls get small, she hits through the court, she's going to get there and she’s going to like the conditions, I know that for sure," he added. “It’s a massively tough task to pull off that Canada, Cincy double bubble. It’s a huge ask. I don’t think that dictates how we view her going into the US Open much. I love her preparation if she can pull off a couple more wins this week.”

According to Roddick on his podcast, Popyrin was a deserving champion after defeating top-tier opponents. On his way to victory, he defeated Tomas Machac, Ben Shelton, Grigor Dimitrov, Hubert Hurkacz, Sebastian Korda, and Andrey Rublev.

“Alexei Popyrin starts the week at No. 62 in the world. Obviously he was going to win the tournament,” Andy Roddick commented. “I mean, he beats four top-20 players this week; guess how many top-20 players he beat in 2023: four. He beat as many top-20 players this week as he beat all year,” he added.

Regarding his final opponent, Roddick remarked that Rublev did not seem to show his best level on the court: “Rublev, it was weird because we’re kind of celebrating the win that he had against Sinner,” Roddick commented. “In the final against Popyrin, he took something for his stomach, so I don’t know what happened but he just looked angsty and did not start off well, double-faulting on break points, missing balls. It looked like he couldn’t create enough speed,” the American added.