Recently, Liudmila Samsonova and Naomi Osaka have become frequent rivals on the Hologic WTA Tour. Their second-round clash at the Omnium Banque Nationale was their fifth meeting in the past 16 months, and lived up to its billing as Osaka came from a set and 5-3 down, saving two match points, to triumph 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 over the No. 13 seed in 2 hours and 37 minutes.
Montreal: Draws | Scores | Order of play
Playing her first match with new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski in her player box, Osaka also trailed 5-2 in the second-set tiebreak before fighting back. She takes a 3-2 lead in her head-to-head against Samsonova, having won all three of their hard-court meetings (following Indian Wells 2024 and Miami 2025). Samsonova’s pair of wins both came on natural surfaces (Madrid 2024 and Berlin 2025).
Osaka also snaps a four-match losing streak in deciding sets, notching her first three-set win since defeating Marie Bouzkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the third round of Rome. Her season record in three-setters now stands at 10 wins to six losses. In just her second appearance in Montreal, the former World No. 1 advances to the third round for the first time, where she will face either No. 22 seed Jelena Ostapenko or Renata Zarazua.
“She definitely came out really hard and for me, I was definitely overwhelmed,” Osaka said in her on-court interview. “I didn’t know if I should also be hitting winners. But after a while I just tried to keep the ball in court.”
More to come…