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Russian Samsonova, who has won 20 of her last 22 matches,
smacked 21 winners and broke the powerful Belarusian four times
en route to a 6-4 2-6 6-2 upset win over the world number four.
The WTA Finals, featuring the world's top eight players, starts
in Fort Worth on Oct. 31.
Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur and Jessica Pegula had already locked up
the first three spots before Guadalajara so with the addition of
American Gauff and France's Garcia, three openings remain.
Fifth seed Gauff was not at her best but was still good enough
to see off Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-6(1) 6-3.
The American teenager double faulted five times and converted
just four of 13 break opportunities but was the better player on
the biggest points, rolling through the first set tiebreak and
carrying that momentum into the second set.
"I'm just super excited," said Gauff, 18, who will be the
youngest player to compete at the WTA Finals since 2005.
"I wasn't really thinking about it before the match, but I'm
excited to join Jess (Pegula)," she said. The pair have also
both qualified for the WTA Finals doubles tournament.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina's hopes of making the Finals
ended after Pegula saved three match points to emerge with a 2-6
6-3 7-6(8) victory.
Rybakina, who fired down 14 aces against the American, would
have qualified for the Finals if the WTA had issued ranking
points at this year's grasscourt major.
The ATP and WTA stripped Wimbledon of ranking points after its
organisers decided to ban Russian and Belarusian players in the
wake of the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special
military operation".
Twice major winner Victoria Azarenka also progressed to the
third round after her top-seeded opponent Paula Badosa retired.
The 24-year-old Badosa, who appeared to be struggling to
breathe, decided that she could no longer continue after losing
the first set 6-2. The Spaniard's retirement means she can no
longer qualify for the WTA Finals.
"You never want anybody to retire, it's really sad that Paula
was unable to finish the match," Azarenka said.
Azarenka will next face Madison Keys, who battled back from a
set down to beat Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6 6-4 6-3.
"Madison is a great player, she's been playing really well this
season, she can beat anybody," Azarenka said.
"We actually played in practice a couple of weeks ago and she
killed me."
Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko, who both have an outside
shot of making the WTA Finals, won their second round matches on
Wednesday, while another hopeful Belinda Bencic was beaten 6-4
6-4 by Sloane Stephens.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, additional reporting
by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris, Lincoln Feast,
Peter Rutherford)
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