Romania’s Elizabeta SAMARA reached the Round of 16 at WTT Champions Frankfurt 2024 in the Süwag Energie ARENA.
In one of the Round of 32’s most intense clashes, SAMARA came back from a 0-2 deficit and saved five match points to edge out Germany’s Xiaona SHAN in a gripping 3-2 victory (7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5, 13-11).
Reflecting on her performance, SAMARA shared, “Against Xiaona it’s always difficult for me. She can read my game and always has good tactics against me. From 0-2, I think she was a little bit stressed. She was missing some easy balls, and then I came back and just wanted to get the ball no matter what. In the last game, I was leading 3-1, and then at 6-10, I just had to play the ball—it didn’t matter how. I was more relaxed, so it helped me. I was lucky she was missing the service, but I knew I had to take this chance. I am grateful to be here, also in Montpellier last minute, because I do not know when I will play here at more WTT Champions events. So, no matter what, I just have to play to enjoy my time here.”
Yesterday’s action didn’t disappoint, with thrilling matches and surprising outcomes:
Local legend Dimitrij OVTCHAROV faced a tough defeat at the hands of England’s Liam PITCHFORD, who won in straight games 3-0 (11-9, 13-11, 11-9), showing impressive resilience.
“I was pretty sure I was the underdog by a long way. It’s been a tough season… injuries and just not finding my game. Recently, in practice, I found something and have been playing quite well. In tournaments, you play one match against the Top 10 in the world, so it’s difficult to get in there sometimes. But today I told myself, ‘it’s my last tournament of the year—just go out and give it what you can.’ It might not have worked; [Dimitrij] is a great player. But today, I felt like I had something different, like I was on top in most parts of the game, and winning the last point was a relief,” said PITCHFORD.
Germany’s wildcard entry Ricardo WALTHER gave the home crowd even more to cheer about with a commanding 3-0 win (11-6, 12-10, 11-9) over Spain’s Alvaro ROBLES in his WTT Champions debut.
