By Tennis Now | Saturday, June 19, 2021
World No. 106 Liudmila Samsonova shocked former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-2 charging into her first WTA final on the grass of Berlin.
Photo credit: @Bett1Open
Liudmila Samsonova continues to prove an old tennis adage: What you don't know can hurt you.
The 106th-ranked Russian qualifier shocked former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-2 charging into her first WTA final in a powerful performance.
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Samsonova is the first qualifier to reach a WTA 500-level final this season.
The 5'11" Russian ripped 24 winners and rolled to a 4-0 second-set lead often dictatint the direction of rallies.
The explosive Samsonova smacked 11 aces, permitted just six points on her first serve and erased all three break points in a 66-minute victory.
It is Samsonova's second Top 20 victory of the season and comes one round after she fought off Madison Keys 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 in a gripping quarterfinal.
Samsonova will play Belinda Bencic in tomorrow's final.
Earlier, Bencic denied eight of 10 break points defeating Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-4 to advance to her fourth career grass-court final and improve to 36-15 lifetime on lawn courts.
The 2015 Eastbourne champion, Bencic is through to her first final since Adelaide where she lost to Iga Swiatek and playing for her second grass-court title. Bencic carries a 4-7 WTA finals record into Sunday's title match.