Liudmila Samsonova secured her place in the semifinals of the National Bank Open after winning two matches on Friday.
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After the Russian secured her place in the quarter-finals by beating world number two Aryna Sabalenka at the beginning of the afternoon, the Russian (18th) defeated the Swiss Belinda Bencic (13th) in two identical sets 6:4 after a long fight 1 hour 49 minutes.
Liudmila Samsonova and Belinda Bencic, who were victims of Thursday’s bad weather, had to play their third-round match on Friday lunchtime before meeting in the evening.
And the wait continued well into the evening as the final three games required three innings each. At least they had a little more peace.
The players entered the field at 9:07 p.m., 2:07 a.m. later than planned. The stadium was now filling up as it had to be emptied between the afternoon and evening sessions.
“It’s been a very long day,” Samsonova agreed on the spot after the game. I’m at a loss for words, I’m exhausted. I’m happy with the way I managed my energy.
Belinda Bencic made two mistakes that were fatal to her. Getty Images via AFP
Two broken
It was two service breaks, one in each set, that made the difference for Samsonova.
She simply exploited Bencic’s mistakes opportunistically.
In the first set, the Swiss gave her two breakballs and then made a double fault in the seventh game.
In a tight second set, Bencic saved a break point in the first game and two more on his next serve. She had an opportunity in game eight when Samsonova had three break points, all of which she defended, then broke Bencic’s serve in the next game, giving her a 5-4 lead. She served confidently and secured victory within a few minutes.
It was the fifth meeting of the two players in their careers. Samsonova has won it four times.
marathons
Samsonova and Bencic already had quite a bit of tennis in their bodies before even stepping onto the court.
The former, ranked 18th in the WTA rankings, fought in straight sets 7-6(2), 4-6 and 6-3 at 2:55 minutes to defeat world runner-up Aryna Sabalenka. The game ended around 3 p.m.
For her part, Switzerland’s Bencic defeated Czech Petra Kvitova (9th) also in three sets 6(3)-7, 6-3 and 6-1 in a 2:57 marathon that ended almost in the same time.
Bencic was in a bit of a bad shape at the end of this clash as she needed the physio’s help in the third set due to a left ankle injury. Kvitova also suffered a hip injury which required treatment.