Liudmila Samsonova said Kaia Kanepi was definitely the hardest challenge she faced in Washington after edging out the Estonian for the Citi Open title. In the Washington final, Samsonova recovered from a set down to beat Kanepi 4-6 6-3 6-3.
En route to winning the title, Samsonova also defeated Elise Mertens, Ajla Tomljanovic, Emma Raducanu and Xiyu Wang. Before the final, only Tomljanovic was able to take a set off Samsonova. “I think it was the hardest match of the week, because Kaia was playing amazing,” Samsonova said after beating Samsonova in three sets for her second WTA title, per the WTA website.
“She was serving so well. I had some troubles to find the solution on the return. It was a tough mental game today, and I’m so happy that I found the solutions.”
Samsonova recovered to beat Kanepi in three sets
The first break points of the match were seen in the 10th game of the first set, when Kanepi broke Samsonova in the game the Russian was serving to stay in the first set.
After winning the first set, Kanepi had a 3-2 lead through the first five games of the second set and a break point in the sixth game. Kanepi didn’t realize her break point and that’s when Samsonova went on a big run.
After saving a break point, Samsonova didn’t lose a single game in the rest of the set as she claimed back-to-back breaks in the seventh and ninth games to force a decider. Both players routinely held on to their serves at the start of the third set as no break points were seen until the eighth game, when Samsonova broke Kanepi to love.
One break of serve was more than enough for Samsonova in the third set as she routinely served out for the match in the ninth game. Samsonova, who clinched her first WTA title in Berlin last year, now has two WTA titles in her collection.
