Fourth seed Jessica Pegula will look to continue her journey in Brisbane as she faces 10th seed Liudmila Samsonova for a place in the semifinals. Whoever out of the two wins, will take on either sixth seed Mirra Andreeva or 16th seed Marta Kostyuk in the final four of the WTA 500 event.
Pegula’s path to the quarterfinals has had its fair share of obstacles. The American received a bye to the second round in Brisbane due to her seeding and edged out Anna Kalinskaya 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. She then faced Dayana Yastremska and found herself a set down before making a fine comeback to win 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament.
Samsonova, on the other hand, has had a relatively smoother route so far. The Russian also received a walkover to the second round, where she registered a comprehensive 6-4, 6-1 victory over Aussie teenager Emerson Jones. Samsonova then faced locked horns with Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich and won 6-4, 6-4 to book her place in the quarterfinals.
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Jessica Pegula vs. Liudmila Samsonova Match Details
Date: Jan. 9, 2025
Tournament: Brisbane International 2026
Round: Quarterfinals
Venue: Queensland Tennis Centre, Brisbane, Australia
Category: WTA 500
Surface: Outdoor Hard
Live Telecast: Tennis Channel, TSN, Sky Sports
Pegula vs. Samsonova Head-to-Head
The two have locked horns on six prior occasions, with Pegula leading their head-to-head 4-2. However, Samsonova triumphed the last time they met, winning 6-7(8), 7-5, 7-6(8) in the second round of the Berlin Ladies Open.
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Pegula vs. Samsonova Prediction
While Samsonova won the most recent encounter between the two, Pegula leads in their head-to-head and has won all of their three prior encounters on hard courts. Hence, the American will enter the match as the favorite to win.
Pegula has won 64 out of 95 points (67.4%) on her first serve so far in Brisbane, serving 11 aces and seven double faults. The American has had to grind out wins in both her prior matches and while one might argue that could give her opponent a slight physical advantage, Pegula played eight successive three-setters during the end of the 2025 season. She will look to maintain her resilience at the WTA 500 tournament.
Samsonova’s first-serve numbers have not better than those of Pegula’s as she won 44 out of 67 points (65.7%) on it so far in Brisbane. The Russian has a decent first serve and will look to fetch as many free points as she can. Samsonova’s aggressive game will come in handy but she will also have to be very composed if she is to trouble Pegula.
However, if the 31-year-old is at her best, she should be able to come out on top and reach the semifinals in Brisbane.
Pick: Pegula to win in three sets.