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Match details
Fixture: Sloane Stephens vs Liudmila Samsonova
Date: 2 July 2021
Tournament: The Championships, Wimbledon
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: London, Great Britain
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Grass
Prize money: £17,066,000
Match timing: 1 pm local time, 12 pm GMT, 8 am EST, 5.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - BBC TV & Radio | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP
Sloane Stephens vs Liudmila Samsonova preview
The resurgent Sloane Stephens will meet the in-form Liudmila Samsonova in an intriguing third-round encounter at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships on Friday.
Stephens, a former US Open winner, has shown signs of her old brilliance since the start of the clay swing. She made it to the semifinals at Parma and followed that up with a run to the fourth round of the French Open.
The American has carried that form into the grasscourt Major, where she knocked out two-time winner Petra Kvitova in the first round. Having backed that up with a convincing win over Kristie Ahn on Wednesday, Stephens will now be eager to reach the second week of Wimbledon for the first time since 2013.
World No. 65 Liudmila Samsonova, meanwhile, had her biggest career breakthrough right before the start of Wimbledon. Her big-serving game came alive on the grasscourts of Berlin, where she ran through the draw to grab her maiden WTA title.
The 22-year-old, a wildcard entrant at Wimbledon, has been able to maintain her high level of play this week. Having registered wins over Kaia Kanepi and 22nd seed Jessica Pegula so far, Samsonova will be more than ready to battle it out with Stephens on Friday.
Sloane Stephens vs Liudmila Samsonova head-to-head
Liudmila Samsonova leads Sloane Stephens 1-0 in the head-to-head, having won their solitary encounter 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in Brisbane last year.
Sloane Stephens vs Liudmila Samsonova prediction
By dint of her recent grasscourt form and her previous win over Sloane Stephens, Liudmila Samsonova has a slight edge in this match.
The Russian's reliable serve forms the foundation of her big-hitting game. She served 11 aces against Kanepi, and while that number went down to three against Pegula, Samsonova has managed to win over 80% of her first-serve points in both her matches so far.
If she can keep serving that big, the 22-year-old would definitely have a real shot at beating Stephens.
However, Samsonova does tend to overhit and collapse into a heap of unforced errors at times. That was starkly evident in the second round against Pegula; Samsonova committed 51 unforced errors against 36 winners in the match, which even cost her a set.
A repeat of such a performance could be dangerous against Stephens, who seems to be hitting the ball confidently at the moment.
The American has been able to keep her unforced errors in check so far, which is always a positive on grass. She has also been pretty strong on the return, registering 60% and 50% success in break point conversion against Kvitova and Ahn respectively.
That said, if Samsonova serves well and doesn't leak too many errors, she might have a little too much firepower for Stephens.
Prediction: Liudmila Samsonova to win in three sets.
