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.
Roddick breaks down Pegula’s success
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.”
Pegula won her first WTA 1000 title at 2023 Canadian Open, now she revalidates title after beating Amanda Ansimova.
"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.”
Popyrin’s
surprise victory
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.