U.S. Open: Samanatha Stosur, Maria Kirilenko and records
On Friday night Samantha Stosur, seeded ninth at the U.S. Open, advanced to the fourth round with a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 win over Nadia Petrova. The match lasted 3 hours 16 minutes and was the longest recorded women's match in tennis' tiebreaker era.
Sunday, in a match that began while it was still light out, and didn't finish until after 10 p.m., Stosur participated in another record. She and 25th-seeded Maria Kirilenko played a second-set tiebreaker of 32 points, the longest in women's Grand Slam history. Kirilenko, seeded 25th, won the tiebreak, 17-15, after having lost the first set 6-2. But Stosur will play some more.
The ninth-seeded Australian advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-7 (15), 6-3 win in 2 hours 37 minutes.
Three times in that tiebreaker, Kirilenko used the video review system to get calls that had been made against her overturned.
The longest tiebreaker in Slam history was the one between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg in the 1980 Wimbledon final. McEnroe won the tiebreak but Borg the match.
When Stosur brought an end to Sunday's second set by shoveling a forehand into the net, McEnroe, who was calling the match on Tennis Channel, said, "There, in a nutshell, is why this is such a great sport."
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-- Diane Pucin, reporting from New York
Photo: Samantha Stosur reaches for a backhand return against Maria Kirilenko during their U.S. Open match on Sunday. Credit: Stan Honda / AFP / Getty Images
