Samson becomes youngest WTA semifinalist since Gauff in 2019

Laura Samson’s dream run continued at the Livesport Prague Open as the 16-year-old Czech wild card, making her WTA debut, edged qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours and 41 minutes to reach the last four.

Prague: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Samson, who sealed an edge-of-seat thriller in front of home fans on her seventh match point, becomes the youngest WTA semifinalist since a 15-year-old Coco Gauff became the 2019 Linz champion. She is also the youngest player to reach the semifinals in her first WTA main draw since a 16-year-old Donna Vekic was the runner-up at Tashkent 2012. The Roland Garros girls’ finalist, Samson is competing in just her 11th professional tournament, and had not won a match above ITF W15 level before this week.

Having notched a statement win over compatriot and No.2 seed Katerina Siniakova in the previous round, in her first ever meeting with a Top 200 player, Samson was initially unable to deal with Selekhmeteva’s variety of spins and paces in the same way. The 21-year-old left-hander, who was sidelined for seven months last year due to a shoulder injury, was on a nine-match winning streak after winning the Rome ITF W75 two weeks previously. Her confidence showed in her cool point construction as she broke Samson twice in the first set.

But Samson was able to get a foothold in the second set thanks to her stellar defensive skills as the match became a nail-biting scrap. Both the second and third sets saw runs of five consecutive breaks of serve, and it was a testament to Samson’s composure that she emerged in front after both.

The home stretch of the match was the most tense. Samson held her first two match points serving at 5-4 in the third set, only for Selekhmeteva to find a gutsy drop shot and a sweet forehand winner to stave them off. In the following game, Samson took her sixth break point to edge ahead again, then saved one break point before finally sealing victory as a Selekhmeteva forehand went wide.

“Right now I’m really excited I can hardly speak,” Samson said in her on-court interview, gasping for breath. “To have so many match points, it was really tough mentally. I’m super proud of myself for the last point.”

Both semifinals in Prague will pit the Czech Republic against Poland. Samson will face No.6 seed Magdalena Frech, who defeated No.3 seed Anhelina Kalinina 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 to reach the first WTA semifinal of her career. In the top half of the draw, No.1 seed Linda Noskova raced past Ella Seidel 6-1, 6-3 and will face No.4 seed Magda Linette, who came through 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 over No.5 seed Viktoriya Tomova.

If Noskova and Samson win their semifinals, they will contest the first all-Czech WTA final since Siniakova defeated Marie Bouzkova in Nanchang last October. If Linette and Frech advance, they would seal the first ever all-Polish WTA final in the Open Era.