Rybakina to face Samsonova in first final appearance of 2025

Elena Rybakina is back on track at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. The former Wimbledon champion outlasted No. 9 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in three sets in the semifinals of the WTA 500 event on Friday, and will face No. 8 seed Liudmila Samsonova for her first title in more than a year.

Strasbourg: Draws | Scores | Order of play

Top seeded Rybakina needed 2 hours and 46 minutes to see off Haddad Maia in the semifinals 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-2 to reach a title match for the first time since winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix last spring. The former World No. 12 -- who dropped out of the Top 10 for the first time since 2023 earlier this month -- won six straight games in the final set to advance, denying the former Roland Garros semifinalist her first clay-court final.

"It was really tough match against Bia; we've always had tough matches so I was expecting that," rybakina said afterwards. In the second set, she played better ... and it was difficult to keep up. In the third, I was broken straight away and after I was just trying to focus point-by-point to stay close in the score, and somehow managed to turn it around."

"I knew that one or two points could change everything," she added.

Rybakina escapes Haddad Maia to return to Strasbourg final

Rybakina's aggression eventually helped get her over the line. Though the two players only went 6-for-24 combined on break point opportunities -- breaking three times each -- the Kazakh hit 44 winners to Haddad Maia's 22.

First-strike tennis also helped Samsonova triumph in the second semifinal: a 6-4, 6-2 win over Danielle Collins. Seeking a second straight final in Strasbourg after finishing runner-up to Madison Keys last year, the American started off strong with a 2-0 lead in the first. And after Samsonova won four games in a row, Collins regrouped to 4-2, frustrating Samsonova's offense with changes of pace.

But the World No. 19 was in control from there, and won eight of 10 games to coast into her first final since winning the grass-court WTA 250 in 's-Hertogenbosch last summer.

Though she is ranked seven spots below Rybakina in the PIF WTA Rankings, Samsonova will take a 4-1 head-to-head record against Rybakina into Saturday's title match. Both players will contest their first final of 2025, with Samsonova bidding to win her first clay-court title after eight previous finals on hard courts and grass.

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