Kayla Day vs Liudmila Samsonova — R16 — Guadalajara Open

Eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova reached the Guadalajara Open quarterfinals having won fewer points than the player she beat. Kayla Day took 108 of the 209 points and 18 of the 32 games across two hours and 38 minutes. Samsonova won both tiebreaks, and that was enough. The opening set established how little separated them: the two traded breaks in each of the first four games before Samsonova closed it 7-6(4). Day, a left-hander ranked WTA No. 123 who builds her points from the return, then broke in game 2 of the second set and ran it out 6-2. Samsonova reached break point four times in that set and converted none of them. The decider ran the other direction first. Samsonova broke in games 1 and 3 for a 3-0 lead, and Day broke back in game 6 to reach 2-4 and again in game 8 for 4-4. Day saved two match points in that set, which went to another tiebreak; Samsonova won it for 7-6(5). Across the match Day converted six of her eight break points, while Samsonova needed 12 chances to take four. Day also served 10 double faults to Samsonova's four. The two had no prior meetings on record. Samsonova's most recent match before this week had been a first-round US Open loss to Maya Joint.