CLEVELAND — Cleveland certainly rocks for Liudmila Samsonova.
The Russia native and 45th-best women's tennis player in the world defeated Belarus' Aliaksandra Sasnovich on Saturday to win the second annual Tennis in the Land singles tournament. Samsonova prevailed in straight sets at Jacobs Pavilion, 6-1, 6-3.
Samsonova entered the finals as the underdog on paper to Sasnovich, who was seeded seventh in the bracket and ranked No. 36 in the world. However, the 23-year-old didn't lose a set all week, and continued her dominance in the deciding match by recording four aces and dominating first serves and returns. He final point came when her volley from the back line deflected off the net, and Sasnovich failed to get the dying ball past mid-court.
Samsonova earns her third career WTA title and second in a row this season, and while Tennis in the Land is in the lowest of the tour's three tiers, it did serve as a spring board for last year's singles champ. Estonia's Anett Kontaveit won the event in 2021, and is now the No. 2-ranked player in the world.
Both of this week's top two finishers will compete in the upcoming U.S. Open in New York, with Samsonova taking on the Czech Republic's Sára Bejlek in the first round and Sasnovich battling Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy.
In the doubles bracket, the team of Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez defeated the pairing of Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunić for the championship, 7-5, 6-3. It was the first WTA doubles title as a team for the two, who hail from the United States and Australia, respectively.
