WTA: Hong Kong Tennis Open second seed Beatriz Haddad Maia survives scare in marathon match, as Elise Mertens eases through
- Beatriz Haddad Maia eventually sees off Aliaksandra Sasnovich after three and a half hours on Centre Court in Victoria Park
- Third see Elise Mertens dispatches Daria Saville, with Hong Kong’s Cody Wong Hong-yi and Wu Ho-ching both swept aside
Second seed Beatriz Haddad Maia triumphed in a marathon match lasting three and a half hours at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, seeing off Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(3) on Wednesday evening in Victoria Park.
Organisers were still playing catch-up following Monday’s washout forced by Typhoon Koinu, with the six remaining first-round ties played in the afternoon session, starting at 3pm across all three courts in perfect, cloudy conditions of 25 degrees.
But while the two outside courts saw the completion of both scheduled matches before it even got dark, Haddad Maia and Sasnovich finished under the floodlights, well past 6.30pm on Centre Court.
“My family are testing their hearts watching me,” Haddad Maia said, laughing, when she finally came to speak to the media nearly two hours after her match ended, having had an ice bath and a massage to aid her recovery.
“The first thing is to fight until the end, and I know I’ve had a few long matches this year, but I’m proud I didn’t give up. I know I need to improve specific things to try to play less hours.”
