Weronika Falkowska saved three match points to beat Germany's Noma Noha Akugue 3:6, 7:6(6), 7:5 and reach the quarter-finals of the WTA 125 tournament at the Legia Warszawa tennis courts. The 26-year-old Polish player, ranked 333rd by the WTA, needed three hours to overcome her seventh-seeded opponent, who is ranked 142nd.
Akugue took the first set after breaking Falkowska's serve twice. Although Falkowska recovered some of the lost ground, she could not turn the set around. Akugue then converted an early break point in the second set to lead 5:3.
Falkowska saved a match point on her own serve at 3:5 and saved another on Akugue's serve in the next game to break back and force a tie-break. Akugue earned a third match point during the tie-break, but Falkowska won the final three points to take the set 7:6(6).
Match commentary and live ranking
In the third set, Akugue broke Falkowska twice, but the Polish player fought back both times before winning three straight games from 4:5 to take the set 7:5. After the match, Falkowska said her fighting spirit was her superpower and that fighting until the end had paid off. She added that the victory meant a lot to her at home, noting that both players could barely breathe in the hellish conditions and that she was glad she held on to win.
The victory moved Falkowska to 309th in the live rankings. Another win would return her to the top 300, while winning the tournament would lift her near 240th place, which would match her career high. She will play Carol Young Suh Lee, who is ranked 165th, in the quarter-finals.
Results for other Polish players
Falkowska was one of nine Polish players to start the event, but only four advanced past the first round, which also saw top seed Elsa Jaqcuemot and eighth seed Teodora Kostović eliminated. In the second round, 137th-ranked Katarzyna Kawa lost in three sets to Justina Mikulskyte, who is ranked 100 places lower, after struggling with heat, fatigue and a thigh issue over nearly five hours of play across two matches. Martyna Kubka, ranked 192nd, lost 5:7, 4:6 to Mona Barthel of Germany, while Zuzanna Pawlikowska, ranked 404th, fell 3:6, 4:6 to Czech player Vendula Valdmannova, who is ranked 182nd.
