Pegula pounds Samsonova in Montreal final

Jessica Pegula took full advantage of a burned-out opponent as she crushed Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-0 to roll to an easy victory in the Montreal Masters final on Sunday.

The American daughter of a billionaire business family spent just 49 minutes in hammering home her third career title, becoming the first from the US since Serena Williams won in Toronto a decade ago.

The last US player to win in Montreal was Monica Seles inb 1998.

Samsonova was tapped out after being forced by rain to finish her semi-final match early on Sunday afternoon before returning two hours later to the court for the final.

Pegula, third in the world, struck 16 winners and three unforced errors as she overpowered her opponent.

The winner realised that she took an unfair fitness advantage into the brief title match.

“It’s tough, it sucks, I feel bad that we weren’t able to play on a more fair playing ground,” Pegula said.

The winner tuned up for the title by shocking world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in a three-set semi-final on Saturday.

Samsonova was worn out from 10 hours on court during the week and had to knock out 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 in their rain-postponed semi.