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The No.15 seed Liudmila Samsonova produced a gritty victory against former World No.1 and Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the second round of the Madrid Open on Thursday.
Samsonova prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 against the former World No.1 and posted her first match-win since February. After restraining the first set, Samsonova held off a surging Osaka in the three-set battle to record a win in a match that lasted for two hours and a 22-minute victory. Samsonova fired 36 winners to Osaka's 22 and the No.15 seeded used those winners to build a commanding 6-2, 4-2 lead. Osaka, on the other hand, fought hard to tie the match at 4-4. Osaka played another powerful return game to gain three set chances at 5-4, and the match was tied after Samsonova double-faulted to lose the second set. Samsonova's third set featured outstanding drop shots as well as her usual hard groundstrokes, but Osaka continued to avoid danger with well-timed serves. Osaka saved break points in three of her first five service games of the set, as the match tied 5-5. However, another successful drop shot handed Samsonova a break opportunity in that game, which she converted for a 6-5 lead after an Osaka backhand went long. Samsonova remained unconcerned when serving for the match, which was her first win in two months, firing back-to-back aces to wrap up proceedings. (ANI)
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