Yulia Putintseva battled past number 6 seed Diana Schnaider 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (9-11) 6-3 in 3 hours and 14 minutes in a thrilling late night match at the Adelaide International.
Putintseva converted his fourth break point in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Schnaider broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Putintseva earned two mini-break to win the tie-break 7-3.
Putintseva saved three break points in the first game of the second set and broke serve in the second game to open up a 4-1 lead. Schnaider broke back in the seventh game and held serve at 30 to draw level to 4-4. Putintseva held two match points at 6-4 in the tie-break. Schnaider went up a mini-break at 7-6 and 9-8, but Putintseva pulled back on serve both times to draw level to 9-9. Schnaider won the final two points to clinch the tie-break 11-9.
Putintseva earned an early break in the first game of the third set to take a 1-0 lead. Schnaider broke straight back to draw level to 1-1. Putintseva won the next three games with two breaks of serve to open up a 4-1 lead. Schnaider pulled one break back in the sixth game and saved two break points to hold serve at deuce in the seventh game. Putintseva converted her seventh match point to in the 10th game to seal the third set 6-4.
Putintseva set up a match against Jessica Pegula, who reached the semifinal after Ashlyn Krueger was forced to withdraw from the match due to a right thigh injury. Pegula was leading 6-4 2-0, when Krueger withdrew from the match due to injury. Krueger started the 2025 season with a quarter final in Brisbane, but she lost to Keterina Siniakova in three sets in the final round of qualifying. However, she moved into the main draw as a lucky loser. Krueger scored back-to-back top 20 wins over Marta Kostyuk and Paula Badosa.
Pegula picked up a knee injury at the WTA Finals in Riyadh but she returned to her best form in Adelaide.
“To start the year. I definitely like playing an event. This tournament I very tough. If I can do well with the way the draw is, I feel like it will give me a lot of confidence going into the Australian Open”, said Pegula.
Liudmila Samsonova beat world number 8 Emma Navarro 6-4 6-4 earning her first top 10 win since 2023 when she beat Elena Rybakina at 2023 Beijing. Samsonova broke serve twice to open up a 3-0 lead in the first set. Navarro pulled back both breaks to draw level to 4-4. Samsonova claimed another break in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and served out for the first game in the next game.
Navarro fought back with a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead but Samsonova reeled off five of the next six games with two breaks of serve to win the second set 6-4.
Samsonova set up a match against Madison Keys, who beat Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-3 clinching her 10thwin in 12 matches.
