Zhengzhou Open: Siegemund upsets Beijing finalist Samsonova to reach quarters

German qualifier Laura Siegemund reached the quarter-finals of the Zhengzhou Open with a surprising upset win over Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 11 seed, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 at Zhongyuan Tennis Training Base Management Center on Thursday.

Samsonova was coming off a good run in Beijing last week where she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the China Open.

Siegemund, ranked No 113 but a former top 30 player, will play Italian Jasmine Paolini next.

In the previous round of the Zhengzhou tournament, the 35-year-old German won against Chinese Lin Zhu (6-2, 6-3).

Samsonova, ranked No 16, beat German Tatjana Maria (6-3, 6-3) earlier this week.

Zhengzhou WTA 500, other second-round matches (Zhongyuan Tennis Training Base Management Center, hard, USD 780,637):

• Barbora Krejcikova vs. Petra Martic
• Zhuoxuan Bai vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Ons Jabeur vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Lesia Tsurenko (Q) beat Donna Vekic (10): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2)
• Qinwen Zheng beat Maria Sakkari (3): 7-6 (2), 6-3
• Jasmine Paolini beat Caroline Garcia (6): 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
• Anhelina Kalinina beat Vera Zvonareva (Q): 7-5, 6-1