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Match Details
Fixture: (3) Elena Rybakina vs (15) Liudmila Samsonova
Date: August 12, 2023
Tournament: Canadian Open 2023
Round: Semifinals
Venue: Montreal, Canada
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,788,468
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Sportsnet, TVA Sports | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Elena Rybakina vs Liudmila Samsonova preview
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, will lock horns with Liudmila Samsonova in the semifinals of the 2023 Canadian Open on Saturday (August 12).
Rybakina knocked out Jennifer Brady and Sloane Stephens to make the last eight, where Daria Kasatkina awaited her. The match was a torrid affair that went to three sets, with 20 breaks of serve between the two of them.
Kasatkina served for the match twice, once in the second set and then again in the third set. She even held a match point, but Rybakina showed nerves of steel to survive and score a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(8) win.
Samsonova, meanwhile, defeated Katerina Siniakova and Qinwen Zheng to reach the third round, where she faced World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. Their match was delayed by a day due to the weather, but the Russian ousted her opponent in three sets to advance further.
Samsonova's second match of the day was against Belinda Bencic. The Russian had an easier time in the quarterfinal as a break of serve in each set proved to be more than enough for her to win the match 6-4, 6-4.
Elena Rybakina vs Liudmila Samsonova head-to-head
Samsonova leads Rybakina 2-0 in the head-to-head. She won their previous encounter at the 2022 Pan Pacific Open in straight sets.
Elena Rybakina vs Liudmila Samsonova odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Elena Rybakina vs Liudmila Samsonova prediction
Rybakina is usually a pretty decent server, but that wasn't the case in the previous round against Kasatkina. She got broken 10 times and hit her first ace of the match halfway through the second set.
Samsonova was on double duty on Friday. After a tough gig against Sabalenka, she didn't have to do much against Bencic. The Russian saved all five break points that she faced against the Swiss and won 82% of her first-serve points.
Fatigue could very well be the deciding factor in this match. Samsonova played two matches yesterday, while Rybakina's three-and-a-half hour marathon battle against Kasatkina ended just before 3 a.m.
Both rely on their serve to set the tone of the point and are powerful ball-strikers. Rybakina will hope her serve doesn't desert her again, which could spell doom for her against the Russian. The Kazakh isn't at her best physically and coupled with her late finish, Samsonova is likely to have the upper hand in this contest.
Pick: Liudmila Samsonova to win in three sets.
