The Baseline Player of the Week: Jessica Pegula

The 2019 season will go down as the biggest year for first-time title winners on the WTA tour. This past weekend, fans added two more names to the growing list: Jessica Pegula (Washington) and Saisai Zeng (San Jose).

Pegula earned her first career title at the Citi Open by defeating Camila Giorgi in a knockout victory, 6-2, 6-2, in just under an hour. Last fall, the 25-year-old reached her first WTA final as a qualifier in Quebec City, and this week, she survived a comeback win over Iga Switaek in the second round and then a three-set brawl against Anna Kalinskaya in the semifinals.

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????+????= ????@JLPegula #CO19 pic.twitter.com/18kyHTQVHa — WTA (@WTA) August 4, 2019

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Pegula, whose parents own both the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres, had not faced Giorgi since 2012, but played a near flawlessly match, only facing one break point and sealing match point with an unreturnable serve.

The Bills threw Pegula some love on Twitter.

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Congrats to @JLPegula on winning the @CitiOpen! ???????? https://t.co/emBKfZ9RxF — Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 4, 2019

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The American got to share her victory celebration with her dog Maddie, who joined her on court for some photo-ops.

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A message for you from the @CitiOpen Champion @JLPegula ???? and her furry friend ????#CO19 pic.twitter.com/TJSXO87k0E — WTA (@WTA) August 4, 2019

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From world No. 79, Pegula jumps to a career-high ranking of world No. 55.