Ludmilla Samsonova put on a performance that brought her a maiden championship at the Bett1 Open Sunday. The Russian’s dominance took down Belinda Bencic, who didn’t carry the same level of offense and fell in the final 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 on Steffi Graf Stadion at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club. It was the first time Samsonova won a WTA title in her second year on the tour scoring nearly a dozen aces and enough winners to take down the best left in the draw.
The two never met before, but if either one wanted a title this season, it would take a mix of power, good movement, and luck. The Russian showed her strengths throughout the tournament that her forehand was not to be trifled with. Numerous winners produced helped tame Victoria Azarenka in straight sets that led her to meet the Swiss. Bencic worked hard twice going three sets but coming through against Alize Cornet to make the final. With frustration being a tool for Samsonova to utilize, she would have to hope that Bencic doesn’t feed off from it and capture her first career WTA championship.
The fifth seed opened service and came out well but a couple of long balls got the 22-year-old to deuce. She managed to force errors from Samsonova to get out of trouble on serve and hold. When it came time for her to serve, the Russian suffered two double faults, but got to deuce and saved a breakpoint after that. She committed two more that killed her shot at holding off the fifth seed and sat two games down instead.
Bencic took advantage of the short gap and put together a service hold in the third to be the one well ahead on the scoreboard. The 22-year-old tried to make good on her second service game of the set, but errors cost her to go down a double break. Bencic continued to cruise on service, making it 5-0 against the Russian, who didn’t want to go down without a win. Despite having a taped-up leg, she worked through the struggles in the sixth to secure a hold over the fifth seed.
While it was an accomplishment to get into the action, she had nothing big enough to take away from Bencic, who captured the set in 28 minutes putting herself in a good spot. The Swiss star served 75 percent from the first serve while producing six winners. Her opponent’s nine unforced errors and only half successful from the first serve meant that she needed a reset.
After leaving the court, Samsonova turned her offense around and opened the second set with a solid performance to hold. She got the best of Bencic in the second game, keeping her back to score the break. The forehand winners began tricking up the fifth seed, who watched the shots zip right past her. A fourth ace in the set handed her three game points, but a double fault came into the game. She didn’t let it bother her as she launched a winner to close out the game and go up 3-0 on Bencic.
The Russian had the double break achieved in the fourth, showing major improvements to the first service that dominated the Swiss. Samsonova backed up the recent break with a hold that made it 5-0 and a close assurance that a deciding set was going to occur. Before she could do that, Bencic managed to get a game to her name to avoid the shutout. She showed some effort in the seventh to get a break and build from there, but the Russian was on a mission and slammed the door to take the set in 24 minutes.
Samsonova was the only one to achieve a winner in the second set and produced 12 along with seven aces. Bencic was coming up short on ideas on how to counter with the window closing on her end. When she tried to serve strong against the Russian, the game inevitably ended in her hands for the break. The 22-year-old backed it up to take a 2-0 lead with Bencic trying again on serve.
She delivered well in the third game, scoring an ace and a crosscourt winner that pushed her to victory on serve. With the early statement, she attempted to even the score, but couldn’t dig in well against the Russian. It led Samsonova to a 3-1 lead, sitting halfway from the title. A second win came off the racket of Bencic, who worked hard on serve to stay in touch with her opponent.
The next two games saw Bencic dug in well with her service, but with Samsonova up a game, she had to find a way to break her and see a chance at turning the tables. She gave herself a good chance in the eighth, but when it came time to score the breakpoint, the 22-year-old refused to give it to her. They ended up on deuce played a couple of breaks where Samsonova brought the forehand in to finish the job and secure the serve.
She played for the championship in the ninth, forcing Bencic into submission with strong returned shots. She reached her first championship on a long ball error from Bencic, who was gifted a shot at deuce instead. A great return from Samsonova had the ball passing Bencic for a second point that fell into the set and sealed a milestone moment for the Russian that took her 1 hour and 36 minutes.
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