Elena Rybakina came out determined against Liudmila Samsonova at the 2023 Canadian Open in Montreal, but it wasn't enough as the Russian countered to win in three sets.
Rybakina and Samsonova were supposed to play last night but they didn't because a downpour forced the organizers to reschedule the match. It meant that the winner of the match would play two matches today having to face Jessica Pegula later today.
Both players knew that a quick match would be beneficial; however, it still went to three sets. Even so, it was a very fast-paced match as neither was particularly interested in playing long rallies. It's not the style of either in general, so it worked out.
Rybakina came out on fire in the opening set, smashing Samsonova in about 29 minutes. The score was 6-1 as she dominated with her serve and from the baseline. The second set was about 10 minutes longer, but it was the same score. It was Samsonova who dominated things this time.
Rybakina didn't serve that well and had far too many errors which gave her Russian opponent plenty of chances to win the set. Samsonova carried over that good momentum in the next set, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead.
Rybakina was still struggling with her serve and despite being a very good player, she does depend on her serve quite a bit. She improved slightly as the set went on but it didn't matter much as Samsonova was fully in rhythm and playing amazing tennis.
She fended off a few pushes from Rybakina to add another break later on and then close out the match. The final score was 1-6 6-1 6-2 for Samsonova who will face Jessica Pegula later on. The match won't begin before 17:30 local time but considering that the match ended at about 15:30 local time it's unlikely to begin at that time. Depends on what 'suitable rest' is in practice.
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