Liudmila Samsonova and Zheng Qinwen will take on each other in the last four of the 2023 WTA Abu Dhabi Open on February 11.
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In her first season quarterfinal matchup against doubles partner and fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova, Liudmila Samsonova recorded her most convincing victory of the week. She won more matches (16 to 8) and committed fewer unforced errors (19 to 23) than her countrywoman, completing the match 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 23 minutes. She left Australia with a 2-3 record after losing to Donna Vekic, 6-3, 6-0, in the second round of the Melbourne International. She defeated 2021 Dubai finalist Barbora Krejcikova, who served for the first set and had a set point in the second, 7-5, 7-6, and eliminated lucky loser Claire Liu from a set down. The Russian lost four of her first five semifinal matches when she first joined the WTA, but she did win the WTA 500 in Berlin on grass in 2021. In the second half of 2022, she won her last three semifinal matches in Washington, DC, Cleveland, and Tokyo, and she advanced from being ranked 60th in August to making her top-20 debut in October.
In 78 minutes, Zheng Qinwen defeated eighth-ranked Russian Daria Kasatkina, who was the top-seeded player, 6-1, 6-2. She defeated her opponent by a factor of three (25 to 8) and avoided all four breakpoints to earn her second top-10 victory (defeated Paula Badosa in Tokyo in September). The 20-year-old up-and-coming star failed to advance past the second round in any of her three Australian tournaments last month, but in Abu Dhabi, she has yet to lose a set. She defeated Rebecca Marino, a qualifier, 6-3, 6-3, but she had to fight back from a set point deficit and hold off Jelena Ostapenko, 7-6, 6-1. The Chinese rookie has not looked back since the start of the previous season, when he had yet to make his top 100 debut. Although she fell short against Simona Halep in her first WTA semifinal at the Melbourne Summer Set, she triumphed over Liudmila Samsonova in her second one in Tokyo to secure her place in the top 30.
| Liudmila Samsonova vs Zheng Qinwen | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | February 11, 2023 |
| Surface | Hard courts |
| Tournament | Abu Dhabi Open |
| Stage | Semi-final |
| Time (India) | 8:30 pm |
| Time (Abu Dhabi) | 7 pm |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Veronika Kudermetova | 6-3, 6-3 (W) |
| Barbora Krejcikova | 7-5, 7-6 (W) |
| Claire Liu | 6-3, 2-6, 0-6 (W) |
| Donna Vekic | 6-3, 6-0 (L) |
| Jasmine Paolini | 6-2, 6-4 (W) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Daria Kasatkina | 6-1, 6-2 (W) |
| Jelena Ostapenko | 7-6, 6-1 (W) |
| Rebecca Marino | 6-3, 6-3 (W) |
| Bernarda Pera | 6-4, 6-4 (L) |
| Dalma Galfi | 6-0, 6-2 (W) |
At a 1-1 tie. When Zheng Qinwen won her first WTA main draw match by defeating Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the 2021 Palermo clay tournament, she was only 18 years old. The Russian exacted revenge for that loss by winning the WTA 500 championship match in Tokyo, 7-5, 7-5, with just one service game lost.
| Tournament | Winner | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 Palermo Open | Zheng Qinwen | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2021 Tokyo Open | Liudmila Samsonova | 7-5, 7-5 |
Liudmila Samsonova and Zheng Qinwen will take on each other in the last four of the 2023 WTA Abu Dhabi Open on February 11.
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