Jessica Pegula successfully began her title defence in Canada. In Montreal, the third-seeded American, who is chasing a third straight title, defeated Maria Sakkari 7-5, 6-4.

The match lasted just over an hour and a half, and Pegula definitely had to work hard for the victory. In the first set she led 3-1, before her opponent made a complete turnaround and served for the set at 5-3 in her favor. A break brought Pegula back into the game, before the American saved five set points in the tenth game. This crushed Sakkari, who lost her serve and then had no answer. In the second set, Pegula pulled a comfortable 4-1 lead with two breaks, before Sakkari returned one of them. However, the Greek did not have the strength for more, although Pegula saved a break point in the tenth game.

The current champion will face unseeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.

No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek also won her first match. The Pole defeated Hanyu Guo of China and will next play Eva Lys of Germany.

McCartney Kessler, Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka, Clara Tauson, Jelena Ostapenko, Caty Mcnally, Anna Kalinskaya, Emma Raducanu, Yulia Starodubtseva, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Muchova, Amanda Anisimova and Elina Svitolina also achieved victories. | BGNES