Adelaide Open: Samsonova stuns Navarro to move into last four

Russian Liudmila Samsonova advanced to the semi-finals of the Adelaide Open by defeating American Emma Navarro, the second seed, 6-4, 6-4 at the Memorial Drive Tennis Park on Thursday.

The match opened on a disastrous note for Navarro as Samsonova broke her first two serves, however, the American recovered both breaks. But the Russian converted another break point in the ninth game and later served the set out.

The No 2 seed drew first blood in the second set but the eventual winner secured two more breaks to prevail, hitting 31 winners in 81 minutes.

What a performance from Liudmila Samsonova!

She fires 31 winners to just 17 unforced errors to beat World No.8 Emma Navarro 6-4, 6-4 for her first Top 10 win since October 2023.

Returns to the semifinals in Adelaide for the first time since 2022! pic.twitter.com/3Dqi61GF5G

— WTARussians (@WTArussians) January 9, 2025

Samsonova, ranked No 26, will face the winner of the match between American Madison Keys and Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 3 seed, next.

The Russian won against qualifier Marie Bouzkova (1-6, 6-4, 6-1) and edged out Swiss qualifier Belinda Bencic (7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous round of the Adelaide tournament, Navarro, ranked No 8, won against Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova (7-6 (4), 6-4).

Adelaide WTA 500, other last eight results (Memorial Drive Tennis Park, hard, USD 1.064.510, most recent results first):

• Yulia Putintseva vs. Diana Shnaider
• Madison Keys vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Jessica Pegula vs. Ashlyn Krueger

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