Ruthless Swiatek reigns supreme in Beijing with 70-minute demolition of Samsonova to win China Open

Iga Swiatek brushed aside the challenge of Liudmila Samsonova to lift her first China Open title in Beijing

Iga Swiatek wins the China Open 2023 in Beijing Andy Wong/AP/SIPA

Jamie Malachy

October 8, 2023

China Open •Final • completed

See draw

L. SamsonovavsI. Swiatek

Iga Swiatek put on an utterly clinical performance to dismantle Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-2 and win her maiden China Open title at the National Tennis Center in Beijing.

Swiatek committed a scarcely credible zero unforced errors throughout the contest, which was over in just under 70 minutes.

By reaching the final, the Pole equalled Caroline Wozniacki for the most WTA-1000 finals reached before the age of 23 since the format was introduced in 2009, with eight apiece. With her win today, Swiatek has now also become the first player since Serena Williams in 2015 to win five or more titles in consecutive seasons.

Samsonova was aiming to win her seventh consecutive match against a former Grand Slam champion, but was simply blown away by the quality on show from her young opponent in Beijing.

All-out aggression backfires for Samsonova

The Russian plays a high-risk, high-reward game with little to no margin for error. This was the gameplan again today against the World No 2, with Samsonova and her team clearly feeling that this high-octane strategy was the best option to negate Swiatek’s considerable weapons.

Samsonova began impressively, with her flat, powerful groundstrokes creating an eye-catching contest across the first five games.

But the boom-or-bust nature of the Russian’s game style was always going to be vulnerable to any signs of sudden fragility.

After that blistering start to the match from the World No 22,Samsonova was then broken in the sixth game, handing her serve to Swiatek with an untimely double-fault on the Pole’s first opportunity.

2⃣0⃣2⃣2⃣ — 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
2⃣0⃣2⃣3⃣ — 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆@iga_swiatek is the first player to win FIVE or more titles in BACK-TO-BACK seasons since Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016!#ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/exqgHar0Bo
— wta (@WTA) October 8, 2023

Trouble then mounted quickly for Samsonova as the set rapidly ran away from her, the number of winners she was hitting being outpaced by the number of sprayed unforced errors.

Swiatek held serve before breaking again as her opponent’s serve fell apart, throwing in four doubles in five service points to hand the Pole the first set in just 35 minutes.

It was sparkling clean and efficient tennis from the World No 2, who gave her opponent nothing to work with, committing zero unforced errors in the opening set.

Clinical Swiatek charges to a sixth WTA-1000 title

Unfortunately for Samsonova, that trend very much continued into the second.

Despite steadying the ship with a solid hold in her opening service game of the second set, Samsononva was broken to love in an error-strewn fourth game, the Pole moving into a commanding 3-1 lead as a result.

That would likely have been enough for the four-time major champion, but the pressure never let up.

Serving to stay in the contest at 5-2 down, Samsonova came under more pressure from an unrelenting Swiatek, her serve eventually succumbing again to the quality of the return it was facing, as the Pole broke for a fourth time to take the match and win her first China Open title on her debut in Beijing.

“A big, big congratulations to Iga and her team,” said a typically gracious Samsonova in her runner-up speech.

“You did a great job, so keep working, because you are great.”

Making the most of her debut in Beijing 🤙

☝️🏆 @iga_swiatek #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/HCVYWaYKLG
— wta (@WTA) October 8, 2023

A happy debut in China for Iga Swiatek as all eyes turn to Cancun

In the first Asian hard-court swing of her still young career, Swiatek has come away with the biggest title on offer at her first time of asking.

The response from the Beijing crowd when the Pole stepped up to the microphone said it all.

“Thank you, by the way, for the cheering,” Swiatek said, addressing the audience.

“Thank you to my team. We all know how hard it is sometimes, and you know how I felt before this tournament. I’m really happy that I have your support, no matter what.”

Following a difficult period during which she relinquished her US Open trophy and the World No 1 ranking, Iga Swiatek has once again shown her ability to rebound excellently from adversity.

It is the fifth WTA title of her season, her 16th career title and her sixth WTA-1000 trophy.

This win also puts Swiatek well within striking distance of Aryna Sabalenka for the World No 1 spot in what would be a timely recapturing of the top position.

However, this will all depend on results at the final tournament of the season, as the race for the coveted year-end World No 1 ranking is set to go down to the wire.

All focus and attention will quickly fall to the WTA Finals in Cancun, where a truly captivating season on the WTA Tour comes to its final conclusion.