Mubadala Citi DC Open: Defending champion Samsonova overcomes Kostyuk to book spot in semi-finals

Liudmila Samsonova beat Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-2 on Friday evening. She’ll play the winner of the match between Swiss Belinda Bencic, the No 6 seed, and American Coco Gauff, the No 3 seed, in the next round

Image Credit: AI/ Reuters/ Panoramic

Tennis Majors

August 4, 2023

Mubadala Citi DC Open •Quarter-final • completed

See draw

L. SamsonovavsM. Kostyuk

Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 8 seed, reached the last 4 of the Mubadala Citi DC Open by beating Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-2 on Friday evening.

Heading into the match, 21-year-old Kostyuk had enjoyed a fine run into the quarter-finals, knocking out No 2 seed Caroline Garcia in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) while also overcoming Canadian wildcard Bianca Andreescu (2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)).

However, defending champion and world No 18 Samsonova was in no mood to become one of Kostyuk’s upsets, with the Russian continuing her own imperious form in Washington. The win sends Samsonova into the semi-finals at the Citi Open 2023, where she’ll face the winner of the match between Swiss Belinda Bencic, the No 6 seed, and American Coco Gauff, the No 3 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the Russian won against American wildcard Danielle Collins (6-1, 6-3) and Romanian Sorana Cirstea (6-1, 6-3), making this her third consecutive straight sets victory.