By Adrianna Outlaw | Saturday, February 11, 2023
In a topsy-turvy semifinal, Liudmila Samsonova subdued Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to battle into her fifth career final in Abu Dhabi.
Photo credit: Christopher Pike/Getty
Lunging to her right on return, Liudmila Samsonova slashed a forehand strike down the line.
Even when stretched, Samsonova frequently fired back snazzy replies in Abu Dhabi today.
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In a topsy-turvy semifinal, Samsonova subdued Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to battle into her fifth career final. Samsonova raised her career semifinal record to 5-4 and will aim to maintain her perfect finals record and claim her fifth career championship.
The eighth-seeded Samsonova will face second-seeded Belinda Bencic in tomorrow's Mubadala Abu Dhabi final.
Earlier, Olympic gold-medal champion Bencic beat Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-3 in 92 minutes.
The ninth-ranked Bencic posted her 11th win of the season, matching Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka for the WTA lead in 2023 match victories.
In a rematch of the Tokyo final, which Samsonova won 7-5, 7-5, the pair took turns playing proactive first-strike tennis in today's second semifinal.
Zheng zapped 15 aces compared to 10 for Samsonova, who was effective hitting on the move.
Samsonova broke first building a 4-2 lead before closing out the opening set.
Hitting deeper drives, Zheng completely flipped the script powering out to a 5-0 second-set lead before leveling to force a third set.
A stretched Samsonova slid a tremendous forehand return down the line for match point and broke to book her first WTA final since Tokyo last September.