Elena Rybakina didn't have any success against Liudmila Samsonova in the past, and it happened once again as she was beaten in the 2023 China Open semi-final.
These players played recently at the Canadian Open, and Rybakina lost easily despite winning the opening set 6-1. It's a tough matchup for the Kazakhstani player as she gets pushed around more so than against other players, thanks to the tremendous power Samsonova brings.
The Russian is one of the better hitters on the WTA Tour but is very inconsistent. Every once in a while, she'll get one of these events where she plays well, and that's been the case this week. She continued her great play against Rybakina although the match was very close, incredibly close actually.
Neither played managed any breakthroughs at the start of the match, but Samsonova did break first. She was up 5-4 with a chance to close it out but failed which sent the match into the tiebreak. In it, Samsonova outlasted Rybakina to win it 9-7.
It was an unfortunate end for Rybakina, who played quite well. She had a set point but couldn't convert, and ultimately it proved costly. The second set continued some of what we saw in the previous one.
Samsonova still won many rallies while Rybakina served exceptionally well, much better than in the first. At 4-3, Rybakina jumped out on a 40-15 lead in the game, but her serve couldn't power her past as Samsonova won a couple of consecutive points to break.
She then served it out for the final score of 7-6(7) 6-3. A huge win for Samsonova, who moves on to the final to face Iga Swiatek, who bested Coco Gauff earlier today. An unfortunate end for Rybakina but still overall a positive experience especially how her week in Beijing started and ended.
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