Jessica Pegula defeated Uzbekistan's Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-0 in the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto. The victory sent the American world number three into the next round.
Pegula entered the first career meeting between the two players as the favorite following a runner-up finish in Washington. She advanced to face Rakhimova after defeating Poland's Magdalena Fręch in the second round, marking her fifth consecutive victory against Fręch.
Match details and rain delay
Rakhimova started strong by breaking Pegula's serve in the third game of the opening set. Pegula broke back immediately and took a 4-2 lead before errors on her own serve allowed Rakhimova to tie the set at 4-4. Pegula then broke serve again to close out the first set 6-4.
In the second set, Pegula broke serve twice to build a 4-0 lead before heavy rain halted play in Toronto for one hour. She maintained her momentum after the restart to complete a 6-0 set.
Pegula will next play Diana Shnaider, who advanced after defeating fellow Russian Anna Kalinskaya in an earlier round.
