Samsonova upsets US Open champion Raducanu to reach Citi Open semis
Liudmila Samsonova beat Emma Raducanu 7-6 (6), 6-1 on Saturday. She’ll play Chinese lucky loser Xiyu Wang in the semi-finals
Liudmila Samsonova at the 2022 Australian Open
Image Credit: Zuma/ Panoramic
Russian Liudmila Samsonova advanced to the semi-finals of the Citi Open with an upset win over reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu on Saturday.
Samsonova defeated the second seeded Raducanu 7-6 (6), 6-1 in one hour and 46 minutes after saving two set points in the first set tiebreaker.
The Russian will face Chinese lucky loser Xiyu Wang for a spot in Sunday’s final.
Wang had knocked out former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka in another quarter-final earlier on Saturday in the rain-affected tournament.
Ranked No 60 in the world, this was Samsonova’s second big upset this week. She had beaten Belgian Elise Mertens, the No 5 seed (7-6 (4), 6-4) and Australian Ajla Tomljanovic (4-6, 6-3, 6-2) in previous matches.
Raducanu, ranked No 10, had defeated American qualifier Louisa Chirico (6-4, 6-2) and Colombian Camila Osorio (7-6 (5), 7-6 (4)) earlier in the tournament.
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