Putintseva beats Friedsam after 3-hour match in Nuremberg

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Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan. (Joel Auerbach/AP)

NUREMBERG, Germany — Top-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan won the longest match of the WTA Tour season so far, overcoming Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) on Thursday to reach the Nuremberg Cup semifinals.

Putintseva converted her first match point in a match that lasted 3 hours, 21 minutes against Friedsam, who is ranked No. 523 after recovering from a shoulder injury.

Putintseva, who is bidding for her first WTA singles title, will face Sorana Cirstea in the semifinals after the Romanian player defeated Serbian qualifier Nina Stojanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. It will be Cirstea’s second semifinal in three years at the clay-court tournament.

American Madison Brengle faced second-seeded Katerina Siniakova and Veronika Kudermetova was to play Tamara Zidansek in the other quarterfinals.

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