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.”
The two-time major winner’s exit has affected the star power on show in Causeway Bay – where the defending champion, Dayana Yastremska, was also turfed out in the first round – with a relatively low turnout filling around half of the main stadium on Wednesday.
But world No 20 Haddad Maia – the highest-ranked player left in the draw – had to labour to victory over No 89 Sasnovich of Belarus. It was an error-strewn match – 34 of them unforced for Haddad Maia, 57 for Sasnovich.
“The first goal for everyone is to win the tournament, but my way is to think the next match always,” she added. “Everyone has the pressure, it doesn’t matter what you do. It’s a good feeling, we have the butterflies in the stomach. It means we do things we like, we work for it.
“When you don’t have food or a job, these people are really under pressure. I try to enjoy and get out of this bubble sometimes when I feel the nerves. I know I’m very privileged to be at these big tournaments.”
The 27-year-old Brazilian got an early break and raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set, only to be pegged back as Sasnovich reeled off four successive games to threaten a shock. Haddad Maia broke again and eventually won a tiebreak.
The pair traded breaks again at the start of the second set, and 29-year-old Sasnovich broke again for 5-3 before taking her third set point to force a decider.
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In keeping with a sloppy match, the two players broke each other twice more in a back-and-forth third set, which went to another tiebreak – after the Belarusian had missed match points. The tie finally ended after 210 minutes, fittingly on a double fault from Sasnovich.
Haddad Maia’s greatest threat on paper here comes from the third seed and singles No 41 Elise Mertens. The doubles specialist, who is ranked No 1 in the world, dispatched Australia’s Daria Saville 6-1, 6-4 in the second match on Court 1.
“I just look at it match by match, every match is pretty difficult at this level. I just focus on myself and my opponent – if you don’t play well, you’re not going to win anyway. We’ll see,” the Belgian said in the media centre, glancing at the television screens as Haddad Maia struggled to wrap up victory in the third set.
“I don’t really look at it this way. Every week is different, conditions are different. I like the conditions here, so hopefully I can stay many more days.”
Wild card Cody Wong Hong-yi got an early break against qualifier Sofya Lansere to fuel thoughts of an upset. But the 21-year-old Hongkonger, ranked No 342, lost 6-4, 6-0 in just 81 minutes against the 23-year-old world No 271 of Russia.
Wednesday’s other home hope in the singles, Wu Ho-ching – ranked No 669 – was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 by No 57 Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.
Over on Court 2, Poland’s Magdalena Frech made quick work of Kazakhstani qualifier Anna Danilina, winning 6-2, 6-2. Alina Korneeva then beat Valeria Savinykh in three sets – 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
