Siniakova outlasts Fernandez in 3 hours, 28 minutes to reach Indian Wells third round
Two-hundred sixty-eight factors performed. Two hundred eight minutes on court docket. Thirty-seven break level possibilities between two gamers who refused to go down with out a battle on Saturday night time in Indian Wells. But in the top, just one quantity mattered: one, as in the one participant who might stroll off victorious, and on this night time, it was Katerina Siniakova.
Siniakova, the previous doubles World No. 1 outlasted No. 27 seed Leylah (*28*) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (1) in 3 hours and 28 minutes to advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open for the second straight yr in what stands because the second-longest match on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz this season.
Indian Wells: (*3*) | Draws | Order of play
And in protecting with the theme of seconds, it is not solely Siniakova’s second win over (*28*) in 4 conferences, but in addition her second in a row, regardless of the match feeling for lengthy stretches like Fernandez’s to lose.
(*28*) saved an limitless barrage of break factors in a recreation that includes six deuces to maintain for 4-3, then earned the primary break of the match just a few video games later to declare a marathon opening set. And even after Siniakova took a 3-0 lead in the second set — lastly changing her first break level on her tenth likelihood in the opening recreation — (*28*) stormed proper again, breaking for 3-1 earlier than leveling at 4-all.
The tide briefly turned towards the Czech as she received back-to-back video games to ship the match to a decider, however (*28*) struck first in the third set, taking a 3-1 lead and showing effectively on her means to victory. But Siniakova refused to let the hole widen, breaking again for 3-2 and saving a pair of break factors to maintain for 4-4, all of this back-and-forth main to essentially the most becoming of endings: a third-set tiebreak.
Well previous the three-hour mark at this stage, the match got here down to one query: which participant would finest preserve her composure?’
It was Siniakova who offered the reply, staying inside herself as a string of unforced errors off the (*28*) forehand proved to be the Canadian’s undoing, and Siniakova’s ticket to the third round. The match completed simply three minutes shy of the season’s longest contest, a 3-hour, 31-minute thriller between Elsa Jacquemot and Marta Kostyuk in the primary round of the Australian Open.
The ultimate numbers weren’t the flashiest, as her marks of 64% of first-serve factors received and 49% of second-serve factors received have been partially offset by a 4-for-19 conversion price on break factors ((*28*) was 4-for-18) — however they have been sufficient to arrange a first-time assembly with Mirra Andreeva.
If she will overcome the 18-year-old, Siniakova would advance to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open for the primary time in singles, though she is former champion on the occasion in doubles.
