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

Tennis Majors

August 6, 2022

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.

Samsonova into the semis! 💥@LiudaSamsonova upsets the number 2 seed Emma Raducanu 7-6, 6-1 to reach the #CitiOpen Final 4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/JxH1sMcgve
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) August 6, 2022

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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