WTA Masters Montreal: Preview and Outright Bets
by Bradley Gibbs | by Bradley Gibbs
Swiatek looking for more glory
Despite not being seen as at her best ahead of the recently concluded third Grand Slam of the year, former world number one and multiple major winner Iga Swiatek powered too victory at the home of grass-court tennis, delivering one of the most one-sided final victories of all time, beating Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to secure her sixth Grand Slam success.
This will be Swiatek’s first outing since Wimbledon, and as she’s had time to recharge, given how strong she looked in London, she’ll be fancied by many to go the distance in Montreal. In fact, it is Swiatek that heads the futures betting, leading the way (at the time of writing) as the +240 favorite.
We know that the Polish player is strong on hard surfaces too. She won the US Open back in 2022, while she’s not without form in this part of Canada either, reaching the semis of the National Bank Open back in 2023. Don’t be surprised to see her go deep this week.
Pegula to pack a punch?
World number four Jessica Pegula has struggled for form in recent weeks, exiting Wimbledon at the first-round stage, losing to a much lower-ranked player, while she didn’t exactly shift through the gears in Washington last week either, again losing early on, playing just one match, losing in three sets to Laylah Fernadez. The fact that Pegula hasn’t found her stride of late probably explains why she’s as big as +2000 in the futures betting ahead of this event, though it would be foolish to dismiss her on the basis of recent form alone.
After all, Pegula didn’t just win this event last year, she won in it in 2023 too, so she clearly knows how to raise her game in Montreal, where the courts seemingly suit her style of play.
Previous champions in the draw
As touched on above, reigning champion and two-time winner Jessica Pegula is back in Montreal and she’s looking to defend her title, but she won’t be the only previous winner involved.
Let’s quickly look at the recent winners of this tournament and who they beat in the final:
2024 - Jessica Pegula defeated Amanda Anisimova
2023 - Jessica Pegula defeated Liudmila Samsonova
2022 - Simona Halep defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia
2021 - Camila Giorgi defeated Karolina Pliskova
2020 - No tournament due to COVID
2019 - Bianca Andreescu defeated Serena Williams
2018 - Simona Halep defeated Sloane Stephens
2017 - Elina Svitolina defeated Caroline Wozniacki
2016 - Simona Halep defeated Madison Keys
2015 - Belinda Bencic defeated Simona Halep
2017 winner Elina Svitolina is another champion due to compete this week, with the Ukrainian coming into the tournament having not played since Wimbledon, where she exited at the third-round stage, losing to world number one Aryna Sabalenka, who isn’t playing in Montreal this week. Svitolina, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open back in 2019, won a hard-court event as recently as January 2025, when she also reached a hard-court final in Australia.
2015 winner Belinda Bencic, who has enjoyed something of a comeback season in 2025, is also in the draw this week. Also a US Open semi-finalist back in 2019, Bencic knows how to get down to business on a hard surface, winning Gold at the Olympics in Tokyo back in 2021, also winning the WTA event in Abu Dhabi back in February of this year. She reached the quarters in Indian Wells back in late March too.
The likes of Beatriz Haddad Maia and Madison Keys are other players with a recent history of doing well at this tournament, having both reached the final, so it’s fair to say that there are no shortage of players that like this venue in the mix this week, which should only add to the competitiveness of what is a top event.
Is there a futures bet ahead of this event?
OK, so is there a value play? Absolutely. That value play is Jessica Pegula. Sure, the world number four hasn’t delivered the goods in the last couple of weeks, but it’s not as if she’s been out of form for a long time, with her winning an event as recently as late June, when she beat Iga Swiatek in the final to land the spoils in Bad Homburg, Germany.
What’s more, we know that Pegula loves this venue, so it’s not at all difficult to see her putting that recent blip behind her in quite commanding fashion. Listen, of course, Swiatek is a worthy favorite, but should the defending champion really be available at odds as big as +2000? Definitely not. Such a price offers clear value for money as far as I’m concerned.
Our WTA Masters Montreal Pick: Jessica Pegula to win the tournament.
