Elena Rybakina battled past Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto, recovering from a 3-0 deficit in the deciding set.
The result came a day after Belarusian world number one Aryna Sabalenka was knocked out of the tournament, losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4.
Rybakina wins tight opener
In the first set, both players struggled on serve, with Rybakina broken three times and Samsonova broken four times. Rybakina held at 4-4 to love, then broke Samsonova on her first set point to take the set 6-4.
Samsonova leveled the match by winning the second set 6-4, converting her third break point in the fifth game as Rybakina's game deteriorated, including frequent errors into the net.
Third-set collapse and recovery
Samsonova broke Rybakina to open the decider, aided by a let-cord winner on break point, then added another break to lead 3-0. Rybakina then reeled off four straight games, breaking Samsonova in the final game to close out the match 6-4 and reach the quarterfinals.
