Elena Rybakina never won against Liudmila Samsonova before this match, but she finally got it done at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open.
This was always going to be a very tough matchup for the Kazakhstani player because Samsonova is one of the rare players who can actually push her around the court. We've seen how that troubles Rybakina against a similar player in Danielle Collins.
The American was able to impose her aggressiveness and move Ryabkina around. Some of that happened today as well, but it didn't happen for the majority of the match.
Samsonova bested Rybakina four times before this match, but this time around, the Kazashtani player finally got it done. Nobody beats her five times in a row, and she certainly made it known in the opening set.
It was a dominant showing because it took her only 25 minutes to win it 6-0. That's quite impressive, but it was greatly helped by Samsonova, a player who can be up and down quite a bit.
She has these sets where she can't hit the court, which happened in the first set of this match. Rybakina did play really well, so that's also important to mention. The second set was much different because Samsonova found her tennis.
She jumped out to a really big lead 4-1, but they allowed Rybakina to pull one of those breaks back. Eventually, it ended up in a really tight finish, but Samsonova was able to push past all of that and win the second set 6-4.
Now, there was a proper match between two very good players, and it definitely proved a really solid one. Rybakina, for the most part, played better because she served better, which disturbed Samsonova's rhythm.
The Russian never properly found her stroke in the final set, which resulted in a lack of pressure. When Rybakina finally broke, she basically cruised to the finish line 6-0, 4-6, 6-2.
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