WTA Elite Trophy: Samsonova comes from behind to defeat Zhu

Liudmila Samsonova defeated Lin Zhu 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 at the WTA Elite Trophy on Thursday, and will play Veronika Kudmertova next

Bren Gray

October 26, 2023

Russian Liudmila Samsonova has made a strong start to her WTA Elite Trophy campaign, defeating China’s Lin Zhu 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in a powerful come from behind victory in Zhuhai on Thursday.

The victory takes Samsonova to the top of the Rose Group, where Zhu now has one win and one loss, while Veronika Kudermetova is yet to secure a win.

After losing the opening set 6-2 to Zhu, world No 15 Samsonova tore back into the match in dominant fashion, losing just three of the next 15 games. Key for the Russian was her serve, which produced an impressive 12 aces across the three-set match, enabling her to win more than 79 percent of first serve points.

Entertainment level = 💯@LiudaSamsonova defeats Zhu Lin 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 and becomes 1-0 in group Rose. #WTAEliteTrophy pic.twitter.com/G0rr1RYuNw
— wta (@WTA) October 26, 2023

Next up, Samsonova will take on Kudermetova in what will be a big match for both women—if Samsonova wins, she’ll have one foot in the semi-finals, whereas if Kudermetova loses, her season will be over.

In other WTA Elite Trophy results today, Daria Kasatkina defeated Magda Linette 6-3, 6-4 and Jelena Ostapenko went the distance with Donna Vekic, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday.