Russia's Daria Kasatkina plays a backhand return to Great Britain's Johanna Konta at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday night (AFP)
There was plenty of drama and skills from both players in the round of 16 clash that lasted two hours and 59 minutes
Published: Fri 23 Feb 2018, 1:02 AM
In what was the best and the longest match of the tournament this year, Russian sensation Daria Kasatkina stunned British seventh seed Johanna Konta 4-6 7-6 6-2 to storm into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
There was plenty of drama and skills from both players in the round of 16 clash that lasted two hours and 59 minutes -- the fifth longest women's singles match in the Dubai Duty Free tournament since 2008.
Thanks to their titanic battle, the last match of the night started only after midnight and it was Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza who booked the last quarterfinal berth with a 6-3 7-5 win over American teenager Cici Bellis.
Wimbledon champion Muguruza's match ended at 1:51am Thursday morning.
"Yes I am so happy and surprised that people stayed here so late for this match. You guys were amazing. Thank you," Muguruza said after winning the one-hour-41-minute game against Bellis.
"I stayed focused on my game even though Cici played really well in the second set, so it was great to finish off the match in two sets."
In the previous game, Kasatkina saved two match points at 4-6 in the second set tie-break and took the match to the decider with a stunning forehand winner (9-7).
Then in the third set, the Russian broke the British thrice to earn her first victory over Konta.
"It was such a tough match. We spent like three hours on the court, but felt like one hour on a court because I was so much in the match," Kasatkina said after the match. "But now I feel a bit weird because it's done. It was such a big battle, such a big fight. So I'm just happy that I survived." Now, Kasatkina will take on her compatriot Elena Vesnina for a place in the semifinal on Thursday.
"I'm still young. Yeah, I have still some power, some energy. But, of course, we will see tomorrow because now I'm under adrenaline, so I don't feel anything. Actually, I'm ready to go and play another one!" Konta, on the other hand, rued the missed the chances.
"It would have been nice to have taken one of the match points, however that's part of the game," a dejected Konta said after the defeat.
"So I think I can only really look back on this match, obviously not now immediately, it has just finished and it's quite late, but just to be able to look back on it, take the good things, because I did do a lot of good things, then learn from the things I can try to do better."
Meanwhile, Vesnina beat reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-1 7-6 earlier on Wednesday and fifth seed Caroline Garcia of France also reached the quarterfinals with a straight-set (6-4 6-2) win over Russian Ekaterina Makarova on Court One.
In other pre-quarterfinals, top seed and defending champion Eline Svitolina of Ukraine beat Lucy Loser Qiang Wang of China 6-1 5-7 6-2, sixth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany outplayed Sara Errani of Italy 6-4 6-2, Japanese youngster Naomi Osaka beat Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-2 7-6 and third seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic defeated Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 5-7 6-2 6-4.
Longest matches in Dubai tennis (women's singles) since 2008
PLAYERS SCORE MINUTES YEAR
R KULIKOVA BEAT S KUZNETSOVA 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4 197 2010
A CORNET BEAT K FLIPKENS 6-0 6-7(6) 6-3 191 2015
A NAKAMURA BEAT A KLEPAC 6-4 5-7 7-6(5) 190 2008
J HENINE BEAT K SREBOTNIK 7-5 6-7(6) 6-3 181 2008
D KASATKINA BEAT J KONTA 4-6 7-6 6-2 179 2018
L SIEGEMUND BEAT SS ESPINOSA 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 178 2017
A CHAKVETADZE BEAT D SAFINA 6-7(3) 6-4 6-3 177 2008
A MOLIK BEAT M CAMERIN 6-3 4-6 6-3 175 2010
K PLISKOVA BEAT G MUGURUZA 6-4 5-7 7-5 174 2015
N LLAGOSTERA VIVES BEAT T PASZEK 6-7(2) 6-3 6-1 173 2011
L SAFAROVA BEAT C DELLACQUA 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 7-5 173 2015
RESULTS
Centre Court
Singles
Centre Court
Singles
Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) beat Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 5-7 6-2 6-4; Elena Vesnina (Russia) vs (WC) beat Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) (4) 6-1 7-6; Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) (1) beat (LL) Qiang Wang (China) 6-1 5-7 6-2; Daria Kasatkina (Russia) beat (WC) Johanna Konta (Great Britain) (7) -6 7-6 6-2; Garbine Muguruza (Spain) (2) beat (WC) Catherine Bellis (US) 6-3 7-5
Court 1
Singles
(WC) Naomi Osaka (Japan) beat Anett Kontaveit (Estonia) 6-2 7-6; Angelique Kerber (Germany) (6) beat (Q) Sara Errani (Italy) 6-44 6-2; Caroline Garcia (France) (5) beat Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 6-4 6-2
Doubles
Su-Wei Hsieh (Taipei)/Shuai Peng (China) (4) beat Nicole Melichar (US)/Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) 6-4 0-6 10-7
Court 2
Doubles
Hao-Ching Chan (Taipei)/Zhaoxuan Yang (China) beat Andreja Klepac (Slovakia)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain) 4-6 6-1 10-5; Ekaterina Makarova (Russia)/Elena Vesnina (Russia) (1) beat Miyu Kato (Japan)/Makoto Ninomiya (Japan) 6-4 6-1
ORDER OF PLAY
Thursday
Centre Court
2pm
Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) (1) vs (WC) Naomi Osaka (Japan)
Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) (3) vs Angelique Kerber (Germany) (6)
Not before 7pm
Caroline Garcia (France) (5) vs Garbine Muguruza (Spain) (2)
Daria Kasatkina (Russia) vs Elena Vesnina (Russia)
Court 1
Doubles
Alicja Rosolska (Poland)/Abigail Spears (US) vs Latisha Chan (Taipei)/Andrea Sestini Hlavackova (Czech Republic) (2)
E-Paper
Sign In
0°C 
