Coco Gauff was knocked out of the Dubai Tennis Championships by Elina Svitolina in an enthralling encounter.
Svitolina defeated Gauff 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event, with the match lasting three hours and three minutes.
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The Ukrainian secured her second consecutive win over the 21-year-old, following her victory at the Australian Open.
Gauff looked to have been closing in on a comeback when she emerged victorious in a marathon second-set tiebreak.
The shootout was the longest on the WTA Tour so far this season, which the American commented on after the match.
Coco Gauff reacts to her tiebreak versus Elina Svitolina
After going a set down in the match, Gauff won the second set 7-6 (15-13), saving four match points.
The tiebreak was the longest since Barbora Krejcikova and Taylor Townsend’s at the US Open last year.
In a post on her Instagram story, Gauff said: “Longest tiebreak I have ever played lol (laugh out loud).
“For non-tennis people, it was supposed to be first to seven points wins, but you have to win by two, which took us a while to do.
“Definitely lost years off my life during this lol.”
Coco Gauff’s campaign at the Dubai Tennis Championships
Gauff won three matches at the Dubai Tennis Championships, the first of which was secured against Anna Kalinskaya.
She defeated Kalinskaya in straight sets before being tested by Elise Mertens in her second match at the tournament.
The two-time major champion had to come back from a set down against the Belgian to set up a quarterfinal showdown with crowd favourite Alexandra Eala.
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Gauff overcame Eala very comfortably, winning 6-0, 6-2, before ultimately bowing out to Svitolina in the semifinals.
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