WASHINGTON (AP) — Liudmila Samsonova hit 10 aces and won her
second career WTA title by coming back to beat sixth-seeded Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Citi Open on Sunday.
Samsonova is a 23-year-old Russian
currently ranked 60th after needing to sit out part of the season, including Wimbledon, because of her country's invasion of Ukraine. She used a powerful serve that reached 119 mph against Kanepi to make her way through the bracket at the hard-court tournament, including a victory over reigning
U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu.
Samsonova's other championship came last year at a grass-court tournament in Berlin. Kanepi, a 37-year-old from Estonia, was seeking her fifth trophy and first since 2013. She faded on Sunday after taking the first set and left the court for a medical timeout late in the second set during a five-game run for Samsonova.
The men's final at the U.S. Open tuneup event was to follow, pitting
Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios against Yoshihito Nishioka. Kyrgios was the 2019 champion in Washington. That final was scheduled to be shown on Tennis Channel, which shunted the women's final off its main station and instead aired pickleball.
Both women are quite capable of terrific serving and showed so right away: Kanepi closed out her first service game with a 96 mph ace; Samsonova finished off hers with a 112 mph service winner.