Livesport Prague Open
16-year old Laura Samson upset her Czech compatriot Katerina Siniakova, the No 2 seed, in the 2nd-round of the WTA 250 Livesport Prague Open on Tuesday, 1-6 7-5 6-3, playing in her first WTA tournament this week, and only her 11th pro event.
I’m extremely surprised! I didn’t go into it as favourite. I’m so proud of myself, and I hope I will continue to play like this. As I was going into the second set I thought, ‘I have nothing to lose, I didn’t play good in the first set’. I’m not really sure when [I thought I could win], I just believed myself in the third set. Laura Samson
Samson had not played an opponent ranked in the Top 200 before facing Siniakova, who currently sits at No 38.
The major upset took 2 hours and 15 minutes before the former junior No1 and this year’s Roland Garros girls’ finalist eventually prevailed.
“I’m extremely surprised,” Samson said on-court afterwards. “I didn’t go into it as favourite. I’m so proud of myself, and I hope I will continue to play like this.
“As I was going into the second set I thought, ‘I have nothing to lose, I didn’t play good in the first set’. I’m not really sure when [I thought I could win], I just believed myself in the third set.”
Siniakova, who is 28, stamped her authority on the inexperienced teenager, slamming return winners and powerful forehands to race through the first set, but Samson began to find some joy at the net towards the end of the opener, hinting at a tactic that she would use to turn the match around.
In total, Samson, ranked 634, won 12 out of her 19 net approaches, and she demonstrated her all-court prowess with cool-headed composure.
She took a 2-0 lead in the second, only for Siniakova to break back after a marathon 8-deuce game and win 3 games in a row herself, and when Samson served for the set at 5-4, she was broken to love, but then the teenager came up with some of her best volleys of the day to break the older Czech again, and forced the decider on her second chance.
Siniakova recovered from an initial break to lead 3-1 in the third, but the 28-year-old’s form had been patchy ever since the first set, and, despite occasional reminders of her excellent touch, 46 out of Siniakova’s 56 unforced errors came over the last 2 sets.
From 3-1 down, Samson reeled off 5 games in a row as the 2nd seed faded, tallying 25 winners to her opponent’s 23.
In the quarter-finals, Samson will face Oksana Selekhmeteva, a Russian qualifier ranked 248, with a maiden WTA semi-final on the line for them both.
21-year-old Selekhmeteva, a former Top 10 junior herself, who won the Rome ITF W75 just 2 weeks ago, extended her winning streak to 9 matches with a 6-1 6-2 defeat of lucky loser Kathinka Von Deichmann from Liechtenstein.
Others to advance on Tuesday included top-seeded Czech Linda Noskova, after Eva Lys from Germany retired at 6-2, 2-1 down, and 6th seed Magdalena Frech of Poland, when her opponent, Dominika Salkova, another Czech, pulled out at 6-4 6-7(4), 2-2.
Noskova will meet Ella Seidel in the Last 8, after the German outpaced Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara, 6-2 7-5 on Tuesday.
Frech takes on Anhelina Kalinina, the No 3 seed from Ukraine, who was a 7-5 3-6 6-2 winner over Elsa Jacquemot from France, while 4th-seeded Magda Linette of Poland, defeated Spain’s Rebeka Masarova, 6-3 6-4, and Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, the 5th seed, saw off Jana Frett from Croatia, 6-3 6-4.
17-year old Mirra Andreeva, the top seed at the WTA 250 Unicredit Iaşi Open in Romania, sailed past Aliaksandra Sasnovich into the quarters on Tuesday
WTAtennis.com
Unicredit Iaşi Open
Top seed Mirra Andreeva is cruising through the Unicredit Iaşi Open, the WTA 250 in Romania, as the young Russian sets sights on the up-coming Olympic Games
The 17-year old, who will compete as a neutral athlete in Paris 2024, easily saw off Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus, 6-1 6-3.
By Thursday Andreeva could well be into Friday’s final, and will face a quick turn-around heading to Paris where the action starts on Saturday.
Until this week, she had not played a match since a disappointing Wimbledon showing, where she fell in the 1st-round to Brenda Fruhvirtova, having reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros.
On Tuesday, Andreeva needed just 73 minutes to sail past Sasnovich without facing a break point and capitalising on 4 of her 8 chances to break the Belarusian’s serve.
She will now face Lea Boskovic, a lucky loser, for a spot in the semi-finals on Wednesday, after the Croatian ended American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko’s run, 6-3 6-4.
Another Russian, 5th-seeded Elina Avanesyan, also advanced to the quarter-finals, with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 win over Croatia’s Petra Martic, while Anna Bondar of Hungary, the 8th seed, defeated Spain’s Marina Bassols Ribera, 7-5 6-4.
No 3 seed and home favourite, Jaqueline Cristian, found her way past wild-card Elena-Gabriela Ruse, also Romanian, 6-4 6-7(1) 6-1, after an epic 3 hour 3 minute battle.
Other Tuesday winners were Serbia’s Olga Danilovic and two Frenchwomen, Chloe Paquet and Selena Janicijevic.
