The Hologic 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, defeating Magda Linette 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-1 in 3 hours and 42 minutes to reach her first quarterfinal of the season. It was her second win in as many meetings against the Pole, following last year's 7-5, 6-4 victory in the second round of Rome.
The previous longest match of this year was Anastasia Potapova's 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-4 victory over Veronika Kudermetova in the Brisbane third round at 3 hours and 26 minutes. The Brazilian's win eclipses that. Indeed, it is longer than all but one tour-level match of 2023. Naturally, that also involved Haddad Maia. Her 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5 win against Sara Sorribes Tormo in the Roland Garros fourth round at 3 hours and 51 minutes.
Over the past two seasons, Haddad Maia has become known for her extended matches. 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 tennis, it's not easy to manage the emotions. In the tiebreak I was a little bit frustrated, and that caused another set. But there is one quality for me that is very important, and it's that I never give up and I always try one more time."
Haddad Maia finished with 46 winners to 38 unforced errors, compared to Linette's 31 winners and 22 unforced errors. Haddad Maia will next face No.2 seed Ons Jabeur, who defeated wild card Emma Raducanu in their second-round showdown on Wednesday night.
Jabeur leads Haddad Maia 2-1 in their head-to-head, but Haddad Maia won their most recent meeting in the 2023 Roland Garros quarterfinals.
Earlier, No.7 seed Daria Kasatkina advanced to her third quarterfinal of 2024 with a 6-3, 7-5 win over 19-year-old American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger.
Highlights: Kasatkina d. Krueger
Kasatkina will next face Romania's Sorana Cirstea, who reached her first quarterfinal of the season with a 6-2, 6-1 upset of No.3 seed Maria Sakkari. It took Cirstea 1 hour and 16 minutes to notch the 20th Top 10 win of her career.
Kasatkina and Cirstea have split their two previous meetings, but this will be their first encounter off of clay. Kasatkina beat Cirstea in straight sets at 2018 Madrid, but Cirstea countered with a straight-sets victory at 2021 Roland Garros.