Samsonova upsets Sabalenka to advance to quarterfinals at NBO in Montreal

Aug 11, 2023 | 12:28 PM

MONTREAL — Liudmila Samsonova of Russia upset second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the National Bank Open quarterfinals on Friday.

Samsonova, the tournament’s 15th seed, went up a break late in the third set to serve for the match. Sabalenka had a chance to break back in the final game, but Samsonova fended it off before hitting a cheeky drop shot on match point.

She’ll play the winner of the round of 16 match between No. 7 Petra Kvitova of Czechia and No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

The winner of that will face either third seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan or 10th seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia in the semifinals.