By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday July 24, 2024
The 16-year-old former junior No.1 defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva to reach the final four in Prague.
Photo Source: TTV
Laura Samson – remember the name.
The talented 16-year-old from Prague reached the semifinals of the Live Sport Prague Open on Wednesday to become the youngest woman to reach a WTA semifinal since Coco Gauff in 2019.
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The Czech toppled 21-year-old Oksana Selekhmeteva 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a grinding affair, converting her seventh match point to win in two hours and 41 minutes.
Per the WTA, Samson is also the youngest player to reach the semifinals in her first WTA main draw since 16-year-old Donna Vekic finished as the runner-up at Tashkent 2012. This year’s Roland-Garros girls’ singles runner up is currently the No.3-ranked junior in the world.
"Right now I'm really excited I can hardly speak," Samson said in her on-court interview. "To have so many match points, it was really tough mentally. I'm super proud of myself for the last point."
Samson converted seven of 15 break points and weathered the storm as things got tense in the deciding set. She squandered a 5-3 lead when Selekhmeteva converted her fourth break point of the tenth game to level up, after saving three match points.
In the next game the teen converted her sixth break point to lead 6-5. She then saved a break point in the final game and converted her fourth break point of the game (seventh overall) to clinch victory.
Samson will face Magdalena Frech of Poland in the semifinals, while top-seeded Linda Noskova will face Poland’s Magda Linette in the top half semifinal.