Sixteen-year-old Samson stuns Siniakova to make Prague quarters

Sixteen-year-old wild card Laura Samson pulled off a major upset in the second round of the Livesport Prague Open, taking out No.2 seed and Czech compatriot Katerina Siniakova 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Prague: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Samson, a former junior No.1 and the Roland Garros girls’ finalist this year, is playing the first WTA tournament of her career in Prague this week, and just the 11th pro event overall. She became the first player born in 2008 to compete in a WTA main draw on Monday, and marked the occasion with a 6-0, 6-2 win over qualifier Tara Wurth. However, she had never faced an opponent ranked inside the Top 200 before facing No.38-ranked Siniakova.

The older player wasted no time in stamping her authority on the inexperienced teenager, slamming return winners and powerful forehands to race through the first set. However, Samson began to find some joy at net towards the end of the opener — foreshadowing a key tactic she used as the turned the match around. In total, Samson would win 12 out of her 19 net approaches.

From then on, No.634-ranked Samson demonstrated both all-court technical prowess and cool-headed composure. She took a 2-0 lead, only for Siniakova to break back after a marathon eight-deuce game and win three games in a row herself. When Samson served for the set at 5-4, she was broken to love — but came up with some of her best volleys of the day to break Siniakova again, and force a decider at her second attempt.

Siniakova recovered from an initial break to lead 3-1 in the third set, but the 28-year-old’s form had been patchy ever since the first. Despite occasional reminders of her excellent touch, 46 out of Siniakova’s 56 unforced errors came over the last two sets. From 3-1 down, Samson reeled off five straight games as Siniakova faded, tallying 25 winners to her opponent’s 23.

“I’m extremely surprised,” Samson said in the on-court interview. “I didn’t go into it as favorite. I’m so proud of myself and I hope I will continue to play like this. As I was going into the second set I thought, ‘I have nothing to lose, I didn’t play good in the first set.’ I’m not really sure when [I thought I could win]I just believed myself in the third set.”

Samson will face No.248-ranked qualifier Oksana Selekhmeteva in the quarterfinals, with a maiden WTA semifinal on the line for both. Selekhmeteva, herself a former Top 10 junior, extended her winning streak to nine with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of lucky loser Kathinka Von Deichmann. The 21-year-old was the Rome ITF W75 champion two weeks ago.