MY ACCOUNT
Liudmila Samsonova headed off to the US Open with a second successive title in the bag after sweeping to victory on Saturday at the Tennis In The Land tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Russian scorched to a 6-1 6-3 demolition of Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, extending her winning streak to 10 matches after winning the Citi Open earlier in August.
Samsonova rolled past the in-form Bernarda Pera for the loss of just three games in the Cleveland semi-finals, before imposing a similarly commanding display on the trophy match against seventh seed Sasnovich.
Just nine places in the world rankings separated the two finalists heading into the final, with Sasnovich at number 36 the higher-placed player, but she could not cope with an opponent who did not lose a set all week.
Indeed, Samsonova only dropped 18 games across five matches, the 23-year-old tying up a third career title on the WTA Tour. Sasnovich has now lost all four of her finals.
At Flushing Meadows, Samsonova begins her campaign against Czech world number 194 Sara Bejlek and could face last year’s runner-up Leylah Fernandez in round two.
Both Samsonova and Sasnovich have to play as neutrals for now, being unable to perform under the flags of their home countries because of Russian and Belarusian involvement in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Samsonova said of Saturday’s win: “We made a special final. We were both without the flag, so it’s special.
“I think it’s important to spend a minute to say we are very good people.”
