Jessica Pegula has paid tribute to her late dog Dexter by dedicating her title at the National Bank Canadian Open (Omnium Banque Nationale) in Montreal to him.

American No. 1 Pegula soared to victory at the WTA 1000 event, defeating her opponent Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. This marks the second Masters 1000 title that Pegula has achieved in her career so far.

Following her win, the 29-year-old took to Instagram to thank her late pet for watching over her, and to dedicate her title to him.

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Pegula was left distraught by loss of pet

In her post, Pegula revealed that she had been left distraught by the loss of her beloved dog, to the point that she didn't know how to find the motivation to start the North-American swing.

"From 2 weeks ago crying on my couch for days wondering how the hell I was going to start this swing - to this week," she wrote.

The world No. 3 then went on to thank Dexter and pay loving tribute to him.

"This one’s for you Dex, thanks for looking out for me down here," she added, followed by a white love heart and a dog emoji.

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Pegula shares sweet memories

Accompanying her caption, Pegula shared a cute and funny photo capturing Dexter staring at her during what appears to be a gym session.

The American recently expressed grief at her dog's passing in a previous post, writing:

"Dexter we love you so much and we are devastated to have lost you so suddenly. The most loyal man with the best heart. When you left you took a piece of me with you that won’t ever feel whole."

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