Samsonova knocked a Ukrainian off the grid in Washington and is now within a stone’s throw of defending her title
Daniil Salnikov August 5, 2023, 00:05 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
But Alexander Shevchenko did not reach the first ATP quarterfinal in his career.
Two Russians made it to the fifth day of the unified tournament in Washington, one on each grid. For women this is last year’s champion Lyudmila Samsonova, and for men Alexander Shevchenko. The day before, because of the rain, six fights did not end, one for women and five for men. Shevchenko turned out to be among those who did not finish their matches from the previous round.
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On Friday it was necessary to settle the accumulated debt of six games, as well as fully play the quarterfinal round, that is, eight more games. Thus, one of the tennis players was guaranteed to pass two full rounds in one day. 22-year-old Alexander Shevchenko in the third round of the “500” in Washington went to Briton Daniel Evans, who is 11 years older than him. Previously, the athletes have not met.
The Russian was the first to reach break points, in the sixth game, but missed all three chances, 3:3. But the experienced Evans in the next game took advantage of the only break point and led – 4:3. This reserve was enough for the Briton to take the first set – 6:4. In the second installment, Daniel led with two breaks: 4:1. Here Shevchenko took someone else’s serve for the first time in the match – 4: 2, but it was too late. In the end, Evans made another break and won a landslide victory: 6:4, 6:3. Well, Alexander had to postpone the dream of the first quarterfinal of the ATP tournament for the next time.
In the women’s group, Lyudmila Samsonova, the champion of the tournament in Washington in 2022, confidently reached the 1/4 final. In the current draw, the 24-year-old Russian woman beat two rivals with the same score 6:1, 6:3: American Danielle Collins and Romanian Sorana Kirstyu. And in the quarterfinals, Lyudmila got the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, with whom they had not played before at the WTA main draw level, but they did in the Brisbane 2020 and Palermo 2020 qualifiers, as well as in the junior Cap d’ Ail – 2016. , Samsonova was stronger.
Kostyuk recalled these fights before the meeting in Washington 2023: “I played against her several times. All matches were closed. She seems like she likes the local conditions, so it definitely won’t be easy. Although it still hasn’t been easy for me.”
The match with Kostyuk turned out to be complete on the part of Samsonova, and first of all, the Russian woman played perfectly on her serve. Only at the very beginning of the meeting, Lyudmila allowed her opponent to make a small margin – 0: 2, but she quickly returned the break – 2: 2, and at the end of the game she again took someone else’s game and called for a set. . – 6:4. Note that Kostyuk often made double faults – by the end of the match there were seven of them. In the second installment, Samsonova quickly led with two breaks – 4: 1, and even her missed serve did not bother her – 4: 2. Lyudmila made another break-5: 2 and appeared for the match-6: 4, 6:2 in 1 hour and 30 minutes.
This is how Lyudmila Samsonova, without losing a set, reached the semifinals of the “500” in Washington. She is only two steps away from defending her title. On Saturday, the Russian will fight the winner of the Bencic-Gauff duo.
