Iga Swiatek wins 3-hour battle against Samsonova in Stuttgart

Iga Swiatek escaped a spectacular effort from Liudmila Samsonova in Stuttgart to win a 3-hour battle and move on to the final 6-7(5) 6-4 7-5.

Swiatek has not been challenged in the way she was challenged today for quite a while. The Russian player played some of the best tennis she ever played against Swiatek who was rather shaky the entire match. In the end, the Polish player was able to show why she was the number one player in the world winning a match she quite possibly had no business winning.

Samsonova was the better player for a long time in the match but Swiatek was able to play more consistent tennis. Both had their ups and downs but Swiatek had a stronger baseline level that ultimately proved crucial in the 3-hour battle. She opened well taking an early break but started missing badly towards the end of the set.

Samsonova was able to battle back from a break down and force a tiebreak where she outlast the Polish player thanks to some spectacular shot-making. Swiatek committed over thirty errors in the first set and that was simply too much. She did not play that much better in the 2nd set but got lucky with Samsonova not being able to hold her level.

Swiatek found a break towards the end of the set and she finished it off with 6-4. The final set was a proper roller coaster quite similar to the way the match was. Swiatek was up 3-1 early but failed to hold that lead. Eventually, she got another one late 6-5 and then finished it off with 7-5.