Belinda Bencic and Liudmila Samsonova will settle between themselves the fight for the title in WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open tomorrow.
Bencic defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets 6-3 6-2. The Brazilian, who fought two stunning matches in previous round, defeating two Kazakhs - Yulia Putintseva and Elena Rybakina, this time had no answer for the class of Swiss, who were dominant player throughout whole the match. Bencic broke Haddad Maia twice in both sets, facing just one breakpoint in first set and not giving away any of her service games.
Liudmila Samsonova eliminated Qinwen Zheng in a tight duel ended up after three sets. The Russian won the opening set 6-4 thanks to the break gained in third game. Zheng responded brilliantly in second set, dominating from the start and moving into decider with 6-1 win there. Third set was a tight battle with both players confidently holding their games until 10th game when Zheng lost her service and defeated in whole the match. 4-6 6-1 4-6.
It will be the fifth WTA final for the Russian, who is undefeated in final matches so far. Both Samsonova and Bencic faced each other in the final of WTA 500 in Berlin 2 years ago when the Russian prevailed in three sets.
Anastasia Potapova will face Petra Martic in Sunday's final of WTA 250 in Linz. Both players made upsets on favorized opponents in semis, as Potapova defeated Marketa Vondrousova 6-1 6-7 6-3 and Martic eliminated the tournament's seed #1, defeating Maria Sakkari 3-6 6-3 6-4.
