What is Samsonova doing? The Russian defeated two Ukrainians in a row and advanced to the “RG” championship
Alexander Nasonov February 8, 2024, 17:10 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
In the Abu Dhabi quarterfinals, Lyudmila will play Barbora Krejcikova. And Elina Avanesyan lost to the world’s 656th racket during the withdrawal in Cluj-Napoca.
On Thursday, February 8, the second round matches of the WTA tournaments in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and Cluj-Napoca (Romania) end. In the 500 meters in Abu Dhabi, Lyudmila Samsonova, the eighth seed, held her match. The Ukrainian tennis player Angelina Kalinina opposed her. In the first round, Samsonova overwhelmingly defeated another Ukrainian, Lesya Tsurenko (6-0, 6-1), and Kalinina successfully fought against the Italian Lucia Bronzetti (6-1, 7-6).
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Lyudmila and Angelina have been performing professionally since 2013. Despite this, they had never met on the court before. Samsonova entered the game faster and, after taking serve from her in the first game, she made a break. In the third game, the Russian suddenly started making mistakes and gave Kalinina a double break point, but, attacking, she quickly corrected herself and did not allow the Ukrainian to take advantage of her chances. Immediately after, Samsonova made a second break, giving up only one point: 4-0.
The Russian had a great chance to end the set with a sweep, but the Ukrainian (Angelina generally made too many mistakes in her rallies), serving 0-5 not in her favor, miraculously managed to recover a triple set point. However, at 5-1, Lyudmila put the match at zero: 6-1 in 26 minutes.
In the second set, Kalinina tried to force the fight and succeeded. The first break, however, was made by Samsonova, achieving her goal with two magnificent blows, but the Ukrainian immediately responded to her rival by 2:2. The next two games decided everything: the Russian scored a break to love and then escaped the break point 4-2. And in the ninth game it was all over: Lyudmila, with 5:3, gave up only one move in the reception and won 6:1, 6:3 in 1 hour and 9 minutes. It is worth noting that in terms of actively earned points, Samsonova simply destroyed her opponent (32: 4); In this context, it is not so critical that she also made more unforced errors (17:9).
Lyudmila Samsonova
Photo: Christopher Pike/Getty Images
In the quarterfinals, Samsonova will face Roland Garros 2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova (4), who defeated lucky loser Sara Sorribes-Tormo by rejection 6:2, 1:0 (rejection).
Recall that earlier the first racket of Russia, Daria Kasatkina (7), qualified for the quarterfinals in Abu Dhabi. There she will play against the Romanian Sorana Cirstei, ranked 26th in the WTA ranking.
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And in the WTA-250 tournament in Cluj-Napoca, in one of the second round matches, Elina Avanesyan (6), 21 years old, the only Russian left in the draw, and the representative of Latvia, Anastasia, 33 years. Sevastova, competing in a protected classification, met. Currently, Sevastova, who reached the semifinals of the US Open in 2018 and was ranked 11th in the world, is ranked 656th in the world. In December 2023, the athlete resumed her career after the birth of her son, participating in two WTA-125 tournaments.
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At the beginning of the match, the tennis players experienced great difficulties in developing their service games. As a result, the game began with a parade of breaks, which ended with the score 2-2. The first to prepare the serve was Sevastova, who took the remaining four games. And Avanesyan could not win a single game in the first set. In the eighth game, the Latvian took advantage of the set point at the third attempt: 6:2 in 29 minutes.
Before the second game, Avanesyan took a medical break – his right hand was rewound. This seemed to help Elina turn the tide of the fight. In the first game she finally broke serve and in the second she faced a double break point. But then Sevastova also got involved, not allowing her opponent to break, and in the next game he took someone else’s serve, after which she confirmed the advantage: 3: 1. Then the change went the other way: Anastasia won a break point, but failed, and then found herself breaking for 3:3.
In the tenth game, Avanesyan, at 5:4, lost a set point in the reception in his favor (5:5). In the eleventh game, the Latvian only gave up one point in the reception, but could not serve for the match, losing five (!) match points: 6:6. In the tiebreaker, the Russian reached a triple set point (6-3) and converted it into the third attempt by 7-6 (7-5) in 1 hour and 6 minutes.
In the deciding set, Sevastova, serving, took the first game. After this, Avanesyan took another medical break; This time they stretched his leg. Anastasia also took advantage of the situation and underwent a mini series of recovery procedures right on the court. When play resumed, Elina started the match at 40-0 on serve, but lost the advantage and allowed her opponent to break 2-0. After this, Avanesyan withdrew from the party.
Despite the defeat, Elina can update her personal record in the world rankings. Avanesyan, the world’s No. 61 racket, is now ranked No. 58 in the live rankings.
In the quarterfinals, Sevastova will play the winner of the matchup between Clara Tauson (Denmark) and Jacqueline Christian (Romania).
The Abu Dhabi and Cluj-Napoca tournaments will end on February 11. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
