AFP, Toronto :
Defending champion Jessica Pegula advanced to the WTA Toronto Masters final on Sunday by defeating Diana Shnaider 6-4, 6-3, giving her a chance to be the event’s first back-to-back winner since 2000.
Pegula, trying for the first Canadian repeat since Martina Hingis in 1999-2000, was 2-0 against Anisimova, most recently winning in April at Charleston.
Shnaider, a 20-year-old left-hander, had a break point in the eighth game but netted a forehand and Pegula held for a 5-3 lead.
She then broke on the longest rally of the match, 21 shots, when Shnaider netted a backhand to end matters.
Pegula moves into her 13th career WTA final, seeking her sixth title and second of the year after Berlin in June.
Shnaider, who ousted US top seed and reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff, was coming off a silver-medal effort in Paris Olympics doubles.
“There was still a lot I wanted to achieve, and just not finish at such a young age, because I had sacrificed so much and given so much to the sport.”