Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo outlasted China’s Xinyu Gao in the fourth-longest match of the Open Era on Thursday at the China Open in Beijing.

One of several players to overcome a first-set stumble in the first round, Sorribes Tormo completed her 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5 victory in four hours and 15 minutes. It was the longest match on the WTA Tour since the 2011 Australian Open.

It was the second four-hour match on the tour this month, following Laura Siegemund’s 4-hour, 9-minute defeat of Xiyu Wang at the Thailand Open.

Sorribes Tormo, 27, is known for enduring grueling matches, having participated in four of the 13 longest slugfests of the Open Era: a win over Camila Osorio at Cleveland in 2022 (3:54), a win over Camila Giorgi at Rome in 2021 (3:51), and a loss to Beatriz Haddad Maia at the 2023 French Open (3:51).

Next up for Sorribes Tormo is No. 18 seed Madison Keys.

Ashlyn Krueger completed a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback in just over two hours against Yafan Wang of China. Krueger converted all five break chances, including three in a row to open the deciding set.

Krueger also saved six of the 10 break points she faced to set up a second-round match with No. 29 seed Lulu Sun of New Zealand.

Also rallying to victory in similar fashion at the WTA 1000 event on Thursday were Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Denmark’s Clara Tauson and Osorio.

Begu beat China’s Ye-Xin Ma 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, Cocciaretto overcame Australia’s Arina Rodionova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, Tauson took down Britain’s Harriet Dart 5-7, 6-4, 6 -1 and Osorio defeated Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic also went the distance for a 7-6 (5), 0-6, 6-3 defeat of China’s Xiyu Wang.

Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima was among the day’s winners in straight sets, ousting China’s Shi Han 6-3, 6-4. Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova defeated Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-2, 6-4. Croatia’s Jana Fett beat China’s Meiling Wang 6-3, 6-4. Spain’s Cristina Bucsa was a 6-3, 6-2 winner against China’s Xinxin Yao. Nadia Podoroska of Argentina, Sijia Wei of China and Jaqueline Cristian of Romania also advanced.

–Field Level Media