Liudmila Samsonova won her first WTA title after coming through qualifying in Berlin, collected three more in 2022 and reached three finals in 2023, one of them at the China Open. It took until 2025, at Wimbledon, for her to reach the quarterfinals of a major. She owns five WTA singles titles, four doubles titles and a career-high ranking of No. 12, according to the WTA.
Early Years
Samsonova was born on 11 November 1998 in Olenegorsk, Russia, and trained in Rome, where she worked with Alessandro Dumitrache and Alessandro Piccari, according to her WTA biography. She made her professional debut on the ITF circuit in 2013 and won four ITF singles titles.
Her first WTA main draws came in 2019. She reached the semifinals in Palermo as a lucky loser, losing to eventual champion Jil Teichmann, and made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Roland Garros as a qualifier, losing in the first round to Donna Vekic.
The Berlin Breakthrough
The turn came on grass in 2021. Samsonova came through qualifying in Berlin and won the tournament, beating Belinda Bencic in the final for her maiden WTA title. She reached the fourth round at Wimbledon that summer, broke into the top 50 on 13 September and finished the year at No. 39, her first year-end ranking inside the top 100. Earlier that season she had recorded her first win over a top-20 player, beating No. 11 Kiki Bertens in Miami.
Three Titles in 2022
Samsonova won three titles in 2022: Washington, where she beat Kaia Kanepi in the final, Cleveland, where she beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and Tokyo, where she beat Zheng Qinwen. She also reached the semifinals in Stuttgart, where she earned her first top-10 win over No. 7 Karolina Pliskova, and the fourth round of the US Open. She entered the top 20 on 24 October and finished the year at No. 20.
Three Finals in 2023
The 2023 season brought three finals and no title. Samsonova lost to Bencic in Abu Dhabi, to Jessica Pegula in Montreal and to Iga Swiatek in Beijing. She also reached the semifinals in Washington, qualified for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, where she went 1-1 in group play, and finished the year at No. 16. In doubles she won the Dubai title with Veronika Kudermetova.
A Grass Title and a First Major Quarterfinal
Her fifth title came on grass at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2024, where she beat Bianca Andreescu in the final. That year she also reached the semifinals in Abu Dhabi, losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina, the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, losing to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka, and the fourth round of the US Open, where Swiatek beat her.
In 2025 she reached her ninth career final in Strasbourg, losing it, and semifinals in Adelaide and Berlin. At Wimbledon she reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time before losing to Swiatek, the eventual champion. She also reached the fourth round at Roland Garros and finished the year at No. 17, her third straight season inside the top 20, according to the WTA.
Doubles
Samsonova has four WTA doubles titles: Dubai in 2023 with Kudermetova, then Seoul in 2024, Ningbo in 2025 and Stuttgart in 2026, all with Nicole Melichar-Martinez. The pair also reached the 2025 final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The Player
Samsonova is right-handed and stands 1.82 metres, according to the WTA. She lists her forehand as her favourite shot and hard courts as her favourite surface, and names Maria Sharapova as her idol.
Grand Slam Best Results
- Australian Open: second round (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025)
- Roland Garros: fourth round (2025)
- Wimbledon: quarterfinal (2025)
- US Open: fourth round (2022, 2024)
Season Snapshot — 2 October 2026
Samsonova is the 29th seed at the China Open in Beijing, where the WTA draw sheet released on 1 October listed her ranking at No. 37. After a first-round bye she was drawn against lucky loser Linda Fruhvirtova in the second round; that match had not finished when this profile was prepared. At the majors in 2026 she lost in the first round of the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open and reached the third round at Wimbledon, according to the WTA. She won the Stuttgart doubles title with Melichar-Martinez.
This snapshot is dated and will change. The career record above does not.
More WTA players are listed in GTN’s player profiles index, including Iga Swiatek, who beat Samsonova in the 2023 Beijing final and the 2025 Wimbledon quarterfinals.
