Liudmila Samsonova upsets top seed in Guadalajara

Eighth-seeded Liudmila Samsonova is through to her first semifinal of the year after upsetting top-seeded Marta Kostyuk 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the Guadalajara Open on Thursday in Mexico.

Samsonova, a 27-year-old Russian, had been to the quarterfinals of three other events this year.

Her last semifinal appearance came in June 2025 at Berlin. Kostyuk, a 24-year-old Ukrainian, was playing her first match of the week.

She received a first-round bye, then got a walkover through the second round when her scheduled opponent, Taylor Townsend, withdrew due to a medical situation that required emergency surgery.

Townsend’s social media post didn’t provide details of the operation. Samsonova will oppose Peyton Stearns in the semifinal.

Stearns won an all-US quarterfinal Thursday night against Sloane Stephens, prevailing 7-6 (6), 6-4. Stephens failed to take advantage of three match points in the first-set tiebreaker.

The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Iva Jovic, the defending champion, and sixth-seeded Cristina Bucsa of Spain.

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Jovic routed seventh- seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-2, 6-1, and Bucsa dumped third-seeded Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-4.

SP Open Mary Stoiana pulled away for a 7-6 (5), 6-1 win over the Czech Republic’s Dominika Salkova in the second round at Sao Paulo to qualify for a WTA Tour quarterfinal for the first time.

Stoiana, 23, helped Texas A&M win the 2024 NCAA team championship.

She is ranked 116th in the world.

Next up for Stoiana is a matchup with second-seeded Paula Badosa.

The Spaniard rallied past Argentina’s Jazmin Ortenzi 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Fourth-seeded Anna Blinkova of Russia, seventh-seeded Kaitlin Quevedo of Spain and eighth-seeded Alina Charaeva of Armenia all earned straight-set wins.

Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands trounced third-seeded Solana Sierra of Argentina 6-3, 6-2, and Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska got past fifth-seeded Eva Lys of Germany 7-5, 6-2.