Putintseva wins WTA's longest match of the season in Nuremberg

NUREMBERG, Germany (AP) — 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.

The second-seeded Katerina Siniakova will play Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek in the other semifinal.

Siniakova rallied to beat American Madison Brengle 1-6, 6-4, 6-0, while Zidansek defeated Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.