WHAT HAPPENED: After surviving a three-set scare the round before against Marie Bouzkova, No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova had no such worries in the US Open third round on Saturday.
Samsonova routed the young American Ashlyn Krueger in near flawless form 6-1, 6-1 in the friendly confines of Stadium 17 on the outer reaches of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds to reach the fourth round for the second time in her career.
After Krueger held serve to open the match, Samsonova ran off the next 11 consecutive games to put a stranglehold on the pair's first career meeting.
The 20-year-old American, though, kept on fighting and managed to turn away three match points to hold her serve and get on the board in the second set. But, it was only a momentary respite, as Samsonova finished with a love service game to end the 62-minute win.
The numbers reflect the lopsided nature of the contest. Samsonova won 85% of her first serve points, including a perfect 10-for-10 in the last set. She made just four errors. Krueger had 27 errors.
It was a tough way to end Krueger’s best showing at a Grand Slam. She had never won a match in six career appearances at the majors.
WHAT IT MEANS: Making the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the second time should not come as a huge surprise for the 25-year-old Samsonova. She came into the year’s last Grand Slam winning 20 of her last 28 matches including a strong summer season on the hard courts, reaching the quarterfinals at Toronto and Cincinnati.
MATCH POINT: Samsonova has played away from the spotlight the opening week, but that will likely change a big way in her next match as she waits the winner of Saturday's primetime match between world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
