China’s Wang Xinyu continues ‘dream week’ in Berlin, downs Samsonova in semi-finals
Wang Xinyu beats Russian in straight sets at WTA 500 tournament, will face Marketa Vondrousova in the final
China’s Wang Xinyu continued her fairy-tale tournament in Germany on Saturday, beating Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Berlin Open.
The week’s surprise package, Wang needed just 75 minutes to down the Russian and reach the first final of her career at the Wimbledon warm-up event.
After securing the first break of the match, Wang built up a 5-2 lead before Samsonova hit back to narrow the gap. But Wang held firm, converting her fourth set point to break again and close out the set.
Wang dominated the second set, breaking for 3-1 and saving two break points to hold for 4-1. She broke again for 5-1 on her fourth chance and calmly served out the match.
The 23-year-old Wang, ranked 49th in the world, has enjoyed a breakout week in the German capital, beating second seed Coco Gauff in the round of 16.
“This week has been a dream for me. I’ve been playing unbelievable tennis here. I don’t know, it’s something with Berlin I guess,” Wang said.