French Open: Beatriz Haddad Maia defeats Sara Sorribes Tormo in third longest women's match in tournament's history

Beatriz Haddad Maia battled from a set and 03 down to defeat Sara Sorribes Tormo in the third longest womenrsquos match ever played at Roland Garros to reach a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal on MondayThe 27yearold Brazilian lefthander came through 67 37 63 75 against her 132ndranked Spanish opponent on Court Suzanne Lenglen after three hours and 51 minutesThe match was just 16 minutes short of the record four hours and seven minutes it took Virginie Buisson to beat French compatriot Noelle van Lottum in the first round at Roland Garros in 1995Maria Bueno did it in 1968Haddad Maia is the first Brazilian woman in a Slam quarterfinal since seventime major winner Maria Bueno in 1968 and will face world number seven Ons Jabeur of Tunisia for a place in the semifinalsBueno also made the quarterfinal of Wimbledon and semifinal of the US Open that year Haddad Maia ranked 14 claimed victory on a fourth match pointldquoI am very happy and very proud that I didnrsquot give up and I think that is why I deserved this victoryrdquo she said ldquoThe key was to play all the points regardless of the scoreldquoI thought that if I was nervous my opponent would be too And Novak Djokovic says that he is nervous sometimes If he is who am I not to berdquoHaddad Maia had already saved a match point in her last32 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova to become the first Brazilian woman in the fourth round in Paris since 1979 The 26yearold Sorribes Tormo had made the last 16 after fourth seed and Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina withdrew from their third round clash with illness She looked the fresher of the two on Monday as she took the first set and was a double break up in the second before Haddad Maia ralliedThe Brazilian swept the next six games to level the tie and broke in the opening game of the decider Sorribes Tormo broke back immediately but couldnrsquot capitalise as Haddad Maia reclaimed the advantage in the fifth gameIn a tense finish Sorribes Tormo saved three match points in the ninth game and broke serve to level at 55 But Haddad Maia broke straight back and this time held her nerveShe is no stranger to energysapping duels In Rome last month Haddad Maia dropped a threehour 41minute quarterfinal to Anhelina Kalinina which is now the second longest womenrsquos match of 2023Casper RuudRuud enters Last 8Meanwhile Casper Ruud last yearrsquos French Open runnerup reached the quarterfinals on Monday after beating Chilersquos Nicolas Jarry 76 73 75 75The fourth seed from Norway avenged last monthrsquos Geneva Open quarterfinal defeat by Jarry to set up a potential rematch of a badtempered 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinal with Holger Rune The 24yearold Ruud edged a tight first set in a tiebreak and trailed by a break in both the second and third sets before seeing off the 35thranked JarryIn another match Coco Gauff reached the French Open quarterfinals for a third successive year with a 75 62 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to set up a possible clash with World No 1 Iga Swiatek Gauff the US sixth seed was defeated by Swiatek in the 2022 final at Roland Garros On Monday she endured a rollercoaster of a first set against her Slovakian opponent who was in the second week of a Grand Slam for the first timeAlso Read French Open Elena Rybakina withdraws from tournament due to health issuesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever