Recently, Liudmila Samsonova and Naomi Osaka have become frequent rivals on the Hologic WTA Tour. Their second-round clash at the Omnium Banque Nationale was their fifth meeting in the past 16 months, and lived up to its billing as Osaka came from a set and 5-3 down, saving two match points, to triumph 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 over the No. 13 seed in 2 hours and 37 minutes.
Montreal: Draws | Scores | Order of play
Playing her first match with new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski in her player box, Osaka also trailed 5-2 in the second-set tiebreak before fighting back to post her first Top 20 win since defeating Karolina Muchova at the Australian Open. She takes a 3-2 lead in her head-to-head against Samsonova, having won all three of their hard-court meetings (following Indian Wells 2024 and Miami 2025). Samsonova’s pair of wins both came on natural surfaces (Madrid 2024 and Berlin 2025).
Osaka also snaps a four-match losing streak in deciding sets, notching her first three-set win since defeating Marie Bouzkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the third round of Rome. Her season record in three-setters now stands at 10 wins to six losses. In just her second appearance in Montreal, the former World No. 1 advances to the third round for the first time, where she will face either No. 22 seed Jelena Ostapenko or Renata Zarazua.
“She definitely came out really hard and for me, I was definitely overwhelmed,” Osaka said in her on-court interview. “I didn’t know if I should also be hitting winners. But after a while I just tried to keep the ball in court.”
Four years since last win from match point down
The last time Osaka won from match point down was at the 2021 Australian Open, on the way to the most recent of her four major crowns. She staved off two in the fourth round against Garbiñe Muguruza.
In total, Osaka has won from match point down six times in WTA main and qualifying draws:
2014 Stanford R1, d. Samantha Stosur 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 (saved 1)
2016 Hobart R1, d. Jarmila Wolfe 6-7(6), 7-6(8), 6-4 (saved 2)
2017 Stutgart Q2, d. Anna Zaja 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(8) (saved 5)
2017 Toronto Q2, d. Barbora Krejcikova 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-0 (saved 1)
2021 Australian Open R4, d. Garbiñe Muguruza 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 (saved 2)
2025 Montreal R2, d. Liudmila Samsonova 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 (saved 2)
Anatomy of a comeback
For most of the first two sets, Samsonova was impenetrable on serve. She broke Osaka early in each set, then was able to protect her lead efficiently — until she served for the match, the Wimbledon quarterfinalist faced, and saved, just two break points.
Samsonova’s forehand had been on song, and at 5-4 in the second set she swatted another ferocious winner from that wing to move to 30-0. Thereafter, a sequence of curious decisions combined with Osaka’s resilience to turn the match around. At 30-0, Samsonova went straight back to Osaka with a forehand sitter; Osaka needed no encouragement to fire the pass past. On Samsonova’s first match point, she sent a forehand long. On her second, a poor drop shot gifted Osaka another shot at a simple winner, duly taken. Down break point, Samsonova double faulted.
Her drop shot demons returned in the ensuing tiebreak. At 5-4, another attempt that landed closer to the service line than the net enabled Osaka to to draw level. Down set point, Samsonova shanked a forehand high into the sky.
Osaka, who has endured several months of heartbreak in deciding sets, seized on to this one and refused to let go. This was encapsulated not just by her signature power but by her defensive movement. The 27-year-old pulled off a phenomenal pass to move up a double break at 4-1. It proved necessary: with her back to the wall, Samsonova rediscovered some of the fiery form on her forehand from earlier in the match, and cut Osaka’s lead to one break.
As Osaka served for the match, another lightning forehand from Samsonova erased a first match point. But then Osaka came up with her most spectacular rally of the match, desperately lunging to every corner of the court to track down Samsonova’s bullets before finding a winning pass to reach a second match point. This time, Samsonova mishit a backhand to send Osaka through.
AloJapan.com