Snigur Saved Four Match Points and Won the Longest Tiebreaker Madrid Has Seen in Years
Ukraine's Daria Snigur just announced herself to the clay-court world in the most dramatic way possible. Making her tour-level clay debut at the Mutua Madrid Open, the 98th-ranked Snigur survived a marathon third-set tiebreaker to stun Australia's Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (13) in first-round action on Thursday.
Four Match Points Down and Still Standing
This wasn't some quick first-round romp. Snigur saved four match points before finally closing out Kasatkina in a tiebreaker that will go into the record books. The 13-point third-set decider is the longest tour-level first-to-seven tiebreaker in eight years and the sixth-longest in WTA history this century. That's the kind of mental toughness that makes you sit up and take notice.
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👉 Claim Your Free $10 at KalshiKasatkina, a 2022 French Open semifinalist, brought everything she had. She saved 17 of 24 break-point chances and split the service and return points almost evenly with Snigur, each winning 50% of both categories. This wasn't a blowout. This was a heavyweight fight that Snigur refused to lose.
What's Next: The Real Test Arrives Fast
Snigur doesn't get to coast into the second round. She's about to face No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, one of the most dangerous players on the planet. After an emotional, exhausting first-round victory, Snigur will need to find another gear.
Thursday was massive for American players too. Alycia Parks dispatched Italy's Elisabetta Coccioretto 6-3, 6-2 in just 74 minutes to set up a second-round matchup with fellow American and No. 31 seed Ann Li. But Taylor Townsend and Elvina Kalieva both fell, losing to Katie Boulter of Great Britain and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic respectively.
In other action around Madrid's 96-player draw, Caty McNally beat Katie Volynets 6-1, 6-2, and Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, outlasted Ashlyn Krueger 7-6 (2), 6-4. Argentina's Solana Sierra needed nearly 2.5 hours to dispatch Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska 7-6 (10), 7-6 (8) in a match that went just two sets but felt like a marathon in its own right.
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