Russian tennis player Lyudmila Samsonova has never even reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournaments in her career, but everything has changed dramatically in Canada. Our athlete not only surpassed her personal achievement by reaching the final, but also overcame a lot of difficulties.

I could have won, if not for the nightmarish schedule!

ordeals

Samsonova started at the Masters in Montreal with a hard win over Katerina Sinyakova. It took Lyudmila three games to beat the world No. 46 from the Czech Republic. Then the Russian woman dealt with the Chinese woman Zheng Qinwen without any problems in two sets. In this match, a relatively easy life for Samsonova ended.

On Friday, Lyudmila had to hold two meetings at once in one day. The organizers postponed the game of the third round against Arina Sobolenko due to rain. I had to spend almost five hours on the court. After the hardest victory over the second racket of the world, she also met with Swiss Belinda Bencic. This game was simpler, but there was still a lot of strength left.

Thanks to these victories, Samsonova reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in her career. But the Russian woman was again not destined to play this stage on time. The weather once again played a cruel joke with Lyudmila: the organizers postponed her match with Elena Rybakina for one day with the final!

Lyudmila Samsonova / Photo: © Minas Panagiotakis / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“I have nothing to lose”

The confrontation with the third racket of the world turned out to be difficult and energy-consuming, both athletes often went to the net. Samsonova heroically saved the match after a disastrous first set, in which she took only one game. First, she responded symmetrically to her opponent in the second game, and then brought the meeting to victory in the decisive segment – 1:6; 6:1; 6:2.

The organizers took Samsonova to rest for only two hours, after which she was supposed to go to the Canadian court against the American Jessica Pegula. But this did not frighten the Russian woman at all.

– I know that it will be more difficult for me than for my opponent, because I have already played one match, but I think I can enjoy it. I have nothing to lose,” Reuters quoted Samsonov.

Unlike the Russian woman, the tennis player from the United States had a good rest. She had played her semi-final days earlier.

It would be a real miracle to expect victory from Samsonova – and Lyudmila predictably could not cope with a rested opponent. In two sets, our athlete took only one game, lasting less than an hour.

“Honestly, I would like to have more time to recover, but the organizers said that this is not possible, so everything is in order. I didn’t have time, because I was in the physiotherapist’s office, trying to bandage the whole body, and it takes one hour, ”Samsonova spoke about the problems of recovery after the game.

Pegula after the game urged to applaud Samsonova for her fortitude, but this is not enough consolation. I would like to believe that all the major victories of Lyudmila are yet to come. In the meantime, she became the first racket of Russia, beating Daria Kasatkina in the WTA rating.

And the organizers of the tournament in Montreal can only wish to take courses in sports management. So to substitute athletes is, of course, something beyond. In her current form, Samsonova could easily defeat Pegula, but she lost her title due to the shortsightedness of the functionaries.