Ludmilla Samsonova breaks Garbine Muguruza down in straight sets

Ludmilla Samsonova clenches her fist in celebration of a point during her match with Garbine Muguruza at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. 

Ludmilla Samsonova lit up the competition to advance for the first time at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Friday night. The 23-year-old dominated on serve, taking the second set by force, resulting in a 6-4, 6-2 straight sets win against Garbine Muguruza on center court at the Ariake Tennis Park. It marked the third semifinal advance for the right-hander in what was a major upset in the making.

The Spaniard had a quick evening against the Greek, getting into the quarterfinal for the fifth time in her career. Facing Samsonova was a good sign for the 28-year-old, who she faced at the Australian Open last year, losing only four games in straight sets. With plenty going right for the former world number one, Muguruza intended on making it back to the semis for the first time since 2017. The 23-year-old also had a straight sets win, but facing Xinyu Wang brought further effort on her part to make it to the last eight. Hoping to make an upset happen, Samsonova had to get her timing right and remain consistent.

Due to a hiccup in Muguruza’s service, she got in front to break in the opening game. The third seed broke back in response, backing up the conversion on serve in the next. Samsonova got into gear during her service in the fourth, going after the Spaniard’s service in the fifth. Fighting from a 15-40 deficit, Muguruza saved breakpoints and held the lone AD point to remain in the lead.

The 23-year-old leveled the score with a service hold, finding a new comfort level that assisted in breaking the third seed to love. With the lead for the first time in the match, Samsonova faltered, watching Muguruza do well with the returns to break back. The world number 30 struck back for the double break, earning a chance to run away with the set on serve in the tenth.

Errors proved to be an advantage in the set, and for Samsonova, it gave her the match lead in 42 minutes. She watched Muguruza err on every single return in the game, giving the notion that she lost control of her offense. Despite recording 18 unforced errors, her big downfall was the serve percentages that Samsonova had in check from her end. She also notched 16 errors but won 71 percent from the first serve.

Muguruza tried to have a better start to open the second, but errors on a 40-15 score turned to bring the 23-year-old to deuce. She forced another pair of errors from the Spaniard, breaking as she did in the first. Samsonova backed up the hard work with another shutout on serve, putting the 28-year-old under pressure to prevent the pace from slipping away. She fought hard to contain the third on serve, but tallying another was out of the question.

Muguruza showed frustration when she couldn’t break through her opponent’s service game, leaving her with fewer expectations from her efforts. It was soon 4-1 for Samsonova, who continued to do no wrong on serve, managing an easy victory for a 5-1 stand. Sitting in a vulnerable position, Muguruza served to extend play in the match, forcing errors from the 23-year-old. A long ball error from Samsonova secured the second victory for the Spaniard but still faced a three-game gap.

Serving for a spot in the semifinal, the 23-year-old stayed composed and put together an extraordinary end to the third seed’s run in Tokyo, ending the match in 1 hour and 21 minutes.