Liudmila Samsonova of Russia hits a return to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, during the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
MONTREAL – Liudmila Samsonova of Russia upset second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the National Bank Open quarterfinals on Friday.
Samsonova, the tournament’s 15th seed, went up a break late in the third set to serve for the match. Sabalenka had a chance to break back in the final game, but Samsonova fended it off before hitting a cheeky drop shot on match point.
She’ll play the winner of the round of 16 match between No. 7 Petra Kvitova of Czechia and No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
The winner of that will face either third seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan or 10th seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia in the semifinals.
The final round of 16 matches had to be squeezed in before the quarterfinals after they were postponed due to lengthy rain delays on Thursday.
In Friday’s other quarterfinals, top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland was set to take on Danielle Collins of the United States, and fourth seed Jessica Pegula and sixth seed Coco Gauff were set to meet in an all-American matchup.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2023.
