Google News
Liudmila Samsonova’s the winner of the 2022 Toray Pan Pacific Open. Samsonova defeated Qinwen Zheng in Sunday’s final in Tokyo. She needed two hours and six minutes to clinch a 7-5, 7-5 victory. The match featured only two service breaks, both of which came on Zheng’s serve in the 11th game of each set.
The only previous time the two had faced each other, Zheng had defeated Samsonova but this time around, the latter didn’t let up in her intensity while facing her teenaged opponent. Both players won a high margin of points off their first serves.
Zheng won 79% while Samsonova won 75%. However, Zheng was able to win only 40% of her second-serve points while Samsonova fared better by winning 62% of her second-serve points. Samsonova wrapped up the match with 21 winners, four more than Zheng’s 17, and had 28 unforced errors, one more than the latter’s 27.
Toray Pan Pacific Open: Liudmila Samsonova maintains record
After the win, Samsonova said, “It was a really tough match because huge congrats to Qinwen and her team because she's playing amazing. Seriously, congrats guys.
It was a nervous match today. We were fighting every point. It was tough”. This was the first time that Qinwen Zheng had made it this far in a WTA tournament. Samsonova, however, was more experienced in playing in these stages and this experience showed for the 23-year-old.
Following her run at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Liudmila Samsonova’s now extended her victory run to four titles in the four finals she’s played. The title in the Japanese capital’s the third she’s won in 2022, after winning in Washington and Cleveland in August.
It’s also the second WTA 500 title she’s won. Previously, her maiden WTA title, in Berlin in 2021 (defeated Belinda Bencic) also came under this category. Photo Credit: WTA Insider Twitter