The WTA Tour’s resident marathon woman was at it again at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
No.6 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia triumphed in the longest WTA main-draw match of 2024 so far, defeating Magda Linette 7-6 (8-6), 6-7(1-7), 6-1 in 3 hours and 42 minutes to reach her first quarter final of the season.
The previous longest match of this year was Anastasia Potapova’s 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4 victory over Veronika Kudermetova in the Brisbane third round at 3 hours and 26 minutes.
The Brazilian’s win eclipsed that. It was also longer than all but one tour-level match of 2023. That too involved Haddad Maia. Her 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Sara Sorribes Tormo in the Roland Garros fourth round took 3 hours and 51 minutes.
This was the 11th time she has gone over three hours since the start of 2022, and her record in those matches is now 7-4.
“I think my team need to take care of their hearts,” Haddad Maia said with a laugh in the on-court interview.
“Sometimes in tennis, it’s not easy to manage the emotions. In the tie=break I was a little bit frustrated, and that caused another set.”
Earlier, No.7 seed Daria Kasatkina advanced to the quarter finals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Ashlyn Krueger.
In a late match, second seed Ons Jabeur defeated Emma Raducanu 6-4, 6-1.