Lyudmila Samsonova (15th in the world) beat Barbora Krejcikova (fourth favorite) and reached the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Abu Dhabi. The Russian will have to fight against Olena Rybakina (first seed) to enter the grand final.

Lyudmila won after an even match, which ended after one hour and 45 minutes, with a score of 7-5, 6-4.

In each of the two sets, Krejcikova (WTA No. 12) was broken twice on serve, and in the return game she was unable to recover enough to convert.

The result of the match between Samsonov and Krejchikov

In the semifinals, Samsonova will face a tough match with Olena Rybakina, the main favorite to win the competition.

Rybakina had little trouble against 74th-ranked Christina Bucha, who represents Spain, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, who won in just over an hour (64 minutes), 6-1, 6-4.

The result of the match between Rybakin and Bucha

In the other two quarterfinal matches, Beatrice Haddad Maia meets Ons Jaber (they are currently playing) and Daria Kasaktina meets Sorana Kirstea.

The Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open takes place from February 5 to 11 on hard, is part of the WTA 500 category, has a total prize pool of $922,573, and the title champion is Belinda Bencic (2023).