Can Liudmila Samsonova go five for five against Elena Rybakina?
All of their four prior meetings came on outdoor hard courts, the surface of Saturday’s showdown in Abu Dhabi.
If Elena Rybakina is to pick up her second WTA 500 title of the season at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, she’s going to have to do something she’s never pulled off before.
Solve the puzzle in front of her that is Liudmila Samsonova.
Both players advanced Friday to set the semifinal showdown. Eighth seed Samsonova hasn’t dropped a set through three matches, taking out No. 4 seed Barbora Krejcikova, 7-5, 6-4, in her latest victory. A day after rallying past Danielle Collins, top-seeded Rybakina dismissed Cristina Bucsa, 6-1, 6-4.
The world No. 5 now looks to overturn a winless record against Samsonova. All four of their prior clashes took place on outdoor hard courts, the surface of choice this week:
2021 Montreal
Though Rybakina arrived to their first matchup as the No. 12 seed, Samsonova wasn’t far removed from her breakout stretch on the grass that saw her win a maiden WTA title in Berlin and back that up by matching the Kazakh in reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Samsonova converted the lone break of the pair’s deciding set and recovered from 15-40 in the final game to serve out a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory in the first round.
2022 Tokyo
By this time, Rybakina was a newly-minted major champion following her Wimbledon triumph. Samsonova had hit her stride on hard courts, picking up titles in Washington, D.C. and Cleveland before reaching the fourth round of the US Open. On this day, Samsonova broke in the third game of their first-round match and never looked back to roll, 6-2, 6-4. By the end of the week, she added another trophy to her collection.
2023 Montreal
Rybakina had looked to replicate what she achieved at the outdoor WTA 1000 hard-court tournaments in March when she won Indian Wells and finished runner-up in Miami. For the first time, she won the opening set in a clash with Samsonova, but the change in fortune was short-lived at a tournament defined by scheduling woes. Rybakina had finished her quarterfinal just before 3 a.m. Saturday and Samsonova played two full singles matches before her. By the end, the No. 15 seed survived, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the final.
2023 Beijing
Two months later, the competitors found themselves squaring off in yet another semifinal with the return of tournaments in China. A round earlier, Samsonova dispatched Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets and backed that up by once again outclassing the 2023 Australian Open finalist. She put the disappointment of not serving out the first set behind her and then stayed the course when Rybakina saved the first three set points she faced en route to a 7-6 (7), 6-3 victory