Porsche Grand Prix: Krejcikova eases past Samsonova, sets up fourth meeting against Sabalenka this year

Former world No 2 Barbora Krejcikova easily defeated Russian Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-0 in one hour and 23 minutes to move into the last 16 of the Porsche Grand Prix at the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart on Tuesday.

With the win, Krejcikova avenged her loss to Samsonova in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of the season.

The win sets up an exciting clash for the 12th-ranked Czech against world No 2 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.

This will be the fourth consecutive tournament that the two players will be squaring off on the tour. Krejcikova defeated Sabalenka in three sets en route to winning the title in Dubai in February before Sabalenka avenged that loss with wins in Indian Wells (three sets) and Miami (straight sets) last month.

Overall, Sabalenka holds a 4-1 edge over Krejcikova in career meetings, with all five of those previous matches coming on hardcourts.

Sabalenka is a two-time runner-up in Stuttgart and is aiming to reach the final for the third year in a row while the Czech is making her main draw debut in this event in 2023.

Stuttgart WTA 500, round of 32 results (Porsche-Arena, EUR 780,637)

• Jelena Ostapenko beat Emma Raducanu (WC): 6-2, 6-1
• Tatjana Maria (WC) beat Ylena In-Albon (Q): 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
• Anastasia Potapova beat Petra Martic (Q): 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
• Paula Badosa (WC) beat Daria Kasatkina (7): 6-1, 6-1
• Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Martina Trevisan: 7-5, 1-1 ret.
• Donna Vekic beat Ekaterina Alexandrova: 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5)
• Cristina Bucsa (Q) beat Tamara Korpatsch (Q): 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
• Qinwen Zheng beat Alycia Parks (LL): 6-4, 6-4
• Jule Niemeier vs. Elena Rybakina
• Coco Gauff vs. Veronika Kudermetova
• Karolina Pliskova vs. Maria Sakkari

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