Lyudmila Samsonova in the fourth circle of Roland Garros, Karen Khachanov left
According to the results of the sixth day of the French open championship, which continued in Paris, the Russian woman Lyudmila Samsonova, who confidently dealt with the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremskaya, was first released in the 1/8 finals of this tournament, but Karen Khachanov in a stubborn five -stage match, which lasted more than four hours, sortingly lost to the American Tommy Paul. From the press center of the tournament-correspondent « Kommersant » Evgeny Fedyakov.
« What is the Chinese woman? » -Lyudmila Samsonova, who came to the Roland Garros press center after a confident victory over the Ukrainian Dana Yastremskaya in the 1/16 finals, pretended not to understand what was being discussed. The fact that the 18th racket of the world does not like to talk about future rivals two days before the next match, according to her, fearing in advance to twist himself psychologically, the Kommersant correspondent has already learned this week. But not to ask Samsonova about her thoughts regarding the Sunday meeting with the seventh racket of the world Zheng Qinven, who in August last year, it was on the Parisian courts that became the Olympic champion, would be wrong.
However, the debutant of the fourth circle of Roland Garros turned out to be a strong nut.
“I just don’t know what to answer you,” she said after a pause half a minute, raising her eyes. I had to come to terms and ask her a different question: why is the best result in Paris reached right now, only on the sixth attempt? “Somewhere up to 20 years old, I felt comfortable on the ground and knew how to play variatively, but then I began to perform more successfully on quick coatings. Now, individual game elements that I had to change throughout my career have developed into something. Confidence came from here, ”answered Samsonova, who gained excellent form last week, when she reached the final at the tournament in Strasbourg.
Zheng Qinven, who in three matches at Roland Garros also did not give a single party, looks like a favorite of this couple. But nothing is lost for Samsonova, because in a series of personal meetings with the Chinese she leads – 3: 2. “When I am physically ready at 80 percent, I can play on equal terms with anyone,” says a Russian woman who has never reached a large helmet in tournaments to the quarterfinals and, according to her, received enough time to relax before a responsible match.
And in this case, he was very useful, because, according to the forecast of weather forecasters, this Friday will be the hottest day of the current Roland Garros. By 13:00, when Karen Khachanov and Tommy Paul entered the court of Simon Mathieu, the air temperature exceeded 30 degrees, the calm reigned, and it was clear that in such conditions, physical condition was becoming one of the key factors.
Strange, but the tournament paths of the Russian and the American, representatives of the same generation, before that crossed only twice – in 2022 in Miami and a month ago in Madrid.
Both times the floor, without a global advantage, prevailed in three batches. Now an important point has come for him. In case of a successful performance at Roland Garros, he can not only return to the top ten world rating, where he had already stood five weeks last winter, but also climb the highest eighth place for himself.
The best result of the floor on the Paris Major was the third circle. But now his chances were quoted slightly higher than the chances of a two -time (2019, 2023) quarter -finalist Khachanov, although last year it would be the other way around. As a result, the rivals found out the relationship for four hours and seven minutes, and only a few points decided the fate of their confrontation. One of them was played on the Tai Break of the Third Party with a score of 7: 6 in favor of Khachanov, when the ball struck the grid after hitting the floor, but flew to the other side. At that moment, the American was saved by millimeters.
Having lost the tie-break, Khachanov did not give up and took a difficult fourth set in which he first lost his presentation.
But in the fifth batch, yielding 0: 2, he did not immediately realize three in a row of Break Punt and soon allowed the American to tear himself into four game. This Paul did not forgive this. As a result – 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 7 (7: 9), 6: 3, 3: 6. The American extended the second consecutive match of five parties, although the Russian one had more points for the Russian – 164 versus 160.
“The match was equal and resembled a fight for armresling – who would give anyone,” Khachanov told the Kommersant correspondent. “Office for the third set, which became key. In the fourth batch, I sat down a little, felt that my legs became slower, but still could equalize the score. However, at the beginning of the fifth batch, the floor turned out to be a little fresh, although even then I had a chance. ”
Having passed Roland Garros one round further than last year, Khachanov retained a place in the middle of the third ten world ranking and, in theory, should rise higher in the coming weeks. The fact is that in the middle of last season he had a noticeable decline. Then, for more than three months after Roland Garros, Khachanov never won even two matches in a row, so now almost any noticeable result will go to him a plus.
