Cleveland Prediction: Liudmila Samsonova vs Sorana Cirstea
August 21, 2025 at 08:00 PM EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Liudmila Samsonova -227 / Sorana Cirstea +175
Top seed Liudmila Samsonova will face Romania’s World No. 112 in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Cleveland Open. The match is scheduled for Thursday, August 21. Here’s our Liudmila Samsonova vs Sorana Cirstea prediction. This preview will also include a Liudmila Samsonova vs Sorana Cirstea pick.
Liudmila Samsonova vs Sorana Cirstea Preview
Liudmila Samsonova extended her winning streak in Cleveland to seven matches. The 2022 champion is coming off another straight-sets win, this time over Yafan Wang. Samsonova spent an hour and 44 minutes to dismiss the Chinese World No. 202 6-2, 6-4. In the victory, Samsonova struck six aces and eight double faults. She landed 54% of first serves in play and won 79% of first serve points (27/34). Samsonova won 52% of second serve points (15/29) and saved two of three break points.
Samsonovahas not lost a set this week, having beaten Carolina Dolehide 6-4, 7-6 in her opening match. In fact, the big-hitting Russian won each of her five matches en route to the title in 2022 without the loss of a set. This is the sixth time this season she has reached at least the quarterfinals, and has only lost twice at this stage.
Sorana Cirstea is competing in her second main draw in Cleveland, and the Romanian needed to earn her spot through qualifying. She did so, winning a couple of matches last weekend, and carried that form into the main draw. In the opening round, she defeated Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and 19 minutes. Cirstea won 68% of first serve points (21/31) and saved five of seven break points in the victory.
In the second round, Cirstea earned a very good win over the in-form Jil Teichmann. Cirstea dropped just two games in a straight-sets blowout. The match lasted 63 minutes. Cirstea tallied three aces and did not hit a single double fault. She landed 64% of first serves in play and won 74% of first serve points (20/27). Cirstea won 60% of second serve points (9/15) and saved four of five break points. This is her fourth quarterfinal of the season. She lost twice at this stage, but won her most recent quarterfinal in Iasi.
Liudmila Samsonova vs Sorana Cirstea Head-To-Head
Samsonova and Cirstea have met once on the WTA Tour. That meeting took place at the 2023 Citi Open. Samsonova won 6-1, 6-3.
Liudmila Samsonova vs Sorana Cirstea Prediction
Fading Samsonova on a hard court, especially when she reaches this stage of the competition, is not something you want to consider. The Russian is streaky and has a 100% winning record in Cleveland, lifting the title in 2022 and winning two matches this week. That’s 14 out of 14 sets she’s won in this tournament. Samsonova is better at what Cirstea is good at. She’s the more consistent striker off the ground, a more reliable server, and won their only previous WTA meeting pretty convincingly on hard courts. Unless Samsonova implodes, which is unlikely to happen when she gets this deep in a draw, she will cruise to another straight-sets victory.