Samsonova upsets Rybakina in Beijing to reach the final of the China Open

Liudmila Samsonova put on a thoroughly impressive display to beat Elena Rybakina 7-6 (7), 6-3 and move into the final of the China Open at the National Tennis Center in Beijing.

This is now the Russian’s fourth win over Rybakina in as many attempts, having recently also knocked the Kazakh out of the Canadian Open in August en route to the final.

Samsonova was good value for her win, supplementing some excellent serving with consistent depth on her groundstrokes to keep her opponent pegged behind the baseline for most of their exchanges.

Adding variety where appropriate helped to keep Rybakina off-balance, not allowing her usual dazzling display of powerful shot-making to enter full flight.

Samsonova, ranked No 22 in the world, will now face World No 2 Iga Swiatek for the title in Sunday’s final.

It is Samsonova’s second 1000-level tournament final of the season, having lost to Jessica Pegula in Montreal over the summer.

For Swiatek, this is her third 1000-level final of the season, with both players aiming to win their first tournament at this level in 2023.

Ahead of her victory, the Russian beat American Alycia Parks (6-4, 7-6 (4)), No 12 seed Petra Kvitova (6-4, 7-5), Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5) and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 13 seed (6-3, 6-2).

Rybakina, ranked No 5, defeated Chinese Qinwen Zheng (6-1, 6-2), German Tatjana Maria (7-5, 6-0), Russian qualifier Mirra Andreeva (2-6, 6-4, 6-1) and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed (7-5, 6-2) earlier in the tournament.

Beijing WTA 1000, other semi-final result (National Tennis Center, hard, USD 8.127.389):

• Iga Swiatek beat Coco Gauff (3): 6-2, 6-3