By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday February 22, 2022
Daria Saville defeated top-seeded Emma Radacanu in a 3:36 war of attrition on Tuesday in Guadalajara.
Photo Source: Tennis Channel
Top-seeded Emma Radacanu has lost her first match at the Abierto Akron Zapopan in Guadalajara, retiring due to a hip injury after three hours and 36 minutes, trailing 5-7, 7-6(4), 4-3 to Australia’s Daria Saville.
The British No.1, the 2021 US Open champion, had been out of action since the Australian Open, where she fell to Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic in the second round – she drops to 1-3 overall on the season.
Tuesday’s tussle outlasted the WTA's previous longest match of 2022 by 27 minutes. Kovinic had defeated South Korea’s Jang Su-Jeong 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in 3:09 in the first round at the Australian Open this year.
Both the first and second sets of the contest between Raducanu and Saville lasted a grueling 80 minutes.
Saville, who battled leg cramps, rallied from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 in the decider, before Raducanu took a medical timeout to have her right leg taped. She would only last two more games.
Saville will face American Caroline Dolehide in the second round.