Samsonova beats Rybakina to reach the final in Montreal

Liudmila Samsonova, world number 18, won against world number 4, Elena Rybakina, 2-1 sets, and will play for the title at the tournament in Canada.

Liudmila Samsonova comes back from a set down against Elena Rybakina to earn her spot in the Canadian Open final! 🇨🇦

Next up: Jessica Pegula for the 🏆 pic.twitter.com/0Dow3E6gNo

— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 13, 2023

The Russian secured her place in the match for the trophy after a comeback victory against Rybakina – 1:6 6:1 6:2. To reach the final, Samsonova also eliminated Sabalenka and Bencic, and later today will have the chance to win the title in Montreal against world number 3 – Jessica Pegula.

2 – Liudmila Samsonova has defeated two top-5 opponents at the Canadian Open 2023 (Aryna Sabalenka #2 and Elena Rybakina #4) – more than in entire career prior to this tournament (one). Collecting.#OBN23 #NBO23 | @OBNmontreal @WTA_insider @WTA pic.twitter.com/HJS7q1ppKc

More on this topic:

Sabalenka takes WAT’s No. 1 spot, replacing Swiatek

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) August 13, 2023

Liudmila played awfully in the 1^st set, and Elena triumphed, giving her only 1 game. However, in the 2^nd set, everything changed, and until the end of the semifinal, Samsonova dominated as she broke her opponent’s serve twice in the 2^nd set and twice in the 3^rd set to secure the victory and to play a historic first final in a WTA 1000 tournament in her career.

Liudmila Samsonova on beating Elena Rybakina to reach her first Masters final:

“At the beginning of the year, I said it would be a dream if I could make a final or even win a Masters one day.” 🥹 pic.twitter.com/JDZ1Osh2rm

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 13, 2023