her second one, and her Russian is surprisingly good considering a lack of practice. Professional career Junior years Samsonova reached her highest ITF junior ranking on 18 July 2016, peaking at the 65th spot on the rankings. Her biggest achievements were winning consecutive ITF Junior Circuit Grade 2 tournaments in 2016, defeating notable players such as Kaja Juvan and Marta Kostyuk. 2013–2016: ITF debut and first titles In 2013, Samsonova made her professional debut at consecutive ITF Circuit tournaments in Umag, but lost both her singles matches. 2014 saw Samsonova winning her first ITF title at a $10k event in Rome, beating three seeded players to clinch the victory despite being unranked. The win allowed her debuting on the WTA rankings, at the 960th spot. The upcoming two years saw the Russian struggle on the ITF Circuit, amassing an 11–12 win–loss record which caused her ranking to stagnate outside the best 1000 players. Nonetheless, she managed to return to the top 1000 towards the end of 2016, after reaching the final of an $10k event in Solarino. 2017–2018: Breakthrough on the ITF Circuit Samsonova's first real breakthrough came when she was leaving her teenage years. Reaching three $15k finals in Hammamet, Pula and Mâcon in 2017, respectively, the Russian almost halved her ranking and ended the year ranked 552nd. 2018 was another decent year for Samsonova, having reached a total of four finals. Overriding her personal best results, the Russian won her first $25k title at the Open Castilla y León, stunning third seed Başak Eraydın in the final with the loss of just two games. Samsonova caused a huge shock at the Open de Saint-Malo, a $60k event, coming through three rounds of qualifying to lift the biggest title of her career and breaking the top 200 for the first time in her career. Her 40–21 win–loss record helped Samsonova end the year inside the top 200 for the first time. 2019: WTA Tour & Grand Slam & top 150 debut Samsonova started the year with her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open, but was defeated in the second qualifying round by Karolína Muchová. Choosing to compete in higher-level WTA tournaments with her ranking, the Russian fell in the qualifying rounds of Premier tournaments in St. Petersburg, Doha and Dubai. After a five-match losing streak to start the clay-court season, Samsonova stunned several higher-ranked players, including tenth seed