On Saturday, the 2022 WTA Washington Open semifinal pits the 60th-ranked Liudmila Samsonova against the 95th-ranked Wang Xiyu in the world.
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Wang Xiyu was given odds of 11/4 by bookmakers to beat Victoria Azarenka, but she didn’t seem to care. The Chinese competitor defeated Azarenka in record time to go to the semifinal of another competition this year after doing so on the WTA 125 and ITF circuits. In just one hour and 16 minutes, Azarenka defeated the world no. 20 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory while giving the impression that she had no solutions for Xiyu’s agility. Seven double-faults off the Azarenka racquet were helpful, but the Belarusian was unable to recover since Xiyu won more than 70% of her points on the first serve.
Following her victory at the US Open the previous season, many predicted that Emma Raducanu would make a rare semifinal appearance, but Liudmila Samsonova crushed the British player’s hopes in the round of eight. Samsonova defeated Raducanu 7-6 (6), 6-1, in a match that lasted one hour and forty-eight minutes. Samsonova understands she has a decent opportunity against a first-time opponent in the semifinals, but Xiyu is also in good shape, so the Russian will need to be at the top of her game, especially given that the rest of the season has not been kind to her.
Liudmila Samsonova and Wang Xiyu will face each other in the semifinal round of the 2022 Citi Open on Saturday, August 6. The WTA 250 competition is scheduled to start from August 1 and end on August 7 this year.
| Player | Seed |
| Jessica Pegula | 1 |
| Emma Raducanu | 2 |
| Simona Halep | 3 |
| Victoria Azarenka | 4 |
| Elise Mertens | 5 |
| Kaia Kanepi | 6 |
| Mayar Sherif | 7 |
| Clara Tauson | 8 |
Read more: Saville vs Kanepi: Citi Open 2022 Where to watch, Schedule, Dates, Live Streaming details
The 2022 Citi Open will see six rounds of action excluding the qualifiers. These include the round of 64, round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. The tournament is scheduled to commence on August 1 and conclude on August 8 this year.
| Competition Stage | Date |
| Round of 64 | August 1 (Men’s) |
| Round of 32 | August 1 (Women’s), August 3 (Men’s) |
| Round of 16 | August 3 (Women), August 4 (Men’s) |
| Quarter-finals | August 5 (Women’s and Men’s) |
| Semi-finals | August 6 (Women’s and Men’s) |
