By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday September 25, 2022
Russia's Liudmila Samsonova remained undefeated in WTA finals by taking out China's Zheng Qinwen in the final at Tokyo.
Photo Source: Getty
Luidmila Samsonova finished her latest impressive title run without the loss of a single set – and she still has yet to lose a WTA final.
On Sunday the 30-year-old edged rising Chinese talent Zheng Qinwen, 7-5, 7-5, for the Tokyo title, claiming her fourth career title and third of 2022.
Samsonova, who leads the WTA in percentage of service games won in 2022, saved three of four break points and won 60 percent of her second-serve points as she won the final two games of both sets to prevail in a close encounter.
Her impressive run at Tokyo includes wins over Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, China’s Zhang Shuai, two-time Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza, Wang Xinyu and Zheng. During those victories, Samsonova lost serve just six times.
"It was a really tough match because huge congrats to Qinwen and her team because she's playing amazing,” Samsonova said on court after her triumph. “Seriously, congrats guys. It was a nervous match today. We were fighting every point. It was tough."
16 of Samsonova’s last 18 wins have come in straight sets. Two of her three titles this year have come without the loss of a single set.
It was a big week for Zheng also. The 19-year-old became the first Chinese teenager to ever reach a WTA final, and will be the youngest Chinese player – and first teenager from the country – to crack the WTA’s Top-30 in Monday’s rankings.
Zheng, who turns 20 on October 8th, is 21-16 on the season.