Illustrative archive photograph of a tennis court, taken on November 29, 2024. This is not the Chennai Open venue or the November 2026 match. Photo: “Tennis court”, Lorenzo Bolla / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Original file, unedited.
Magda Linette advanced to the Chennai Open second round on Tuesday, November 3, after a three-hour, 33-minute victory over qualifier Aliona Falei. The Polish third seed won 7–6(3), 5–7, 6–2.
The WTA said the contest was its longest main-draw match of 2026 so far, surpassing the previous joint mark by two minutes.
Linette took the opening set in a tiebreak, but Falei extended the match by winning the second 7–5. Linette then conceded only two games in the deciding set to secure her place in the last 16.
The previous three-hour, 31-minute matches were Elsa Jacquemot’s first-round victory over Marta Kostyuk at the Australian Open and Tamara Zidansek’s second-round win over Anna Bondar in Iasi, according to the WTA.
The Chennai first-round match was played on Court 1 at the WTA 250 tournament.
