Linette overturns set deficit and early decider break to reach Chennai semi-finals
Third seed Magda Linette came back from a set and a break down, then a break down in the decider, to beat Mai Hontama 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the Chennai quarter-finals. The 2h37 battle took the 2022 runner-up’s record at the event to 6-1 and sent her into a second tour-level semi-final of the year. Hontama misses out on becoming the first Japanese semi-finalist in Chennai.
Magda Linette, Cincinnati 2025 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Third seed Magda Linette of Poland recovered from a set and a break down, then from a break down in the decider, to beat Japan’s world No. 160 Mai Hontama 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the Chennai WTA 250 quarter-finals on Friday. The match lasted 2 hours 37 minutes. Linette will face seventh seed Anastasia Zakharova or 10th seed Lucrezia Stefanini in the semi-finals.
The win sent Linette into her second tour-level semi-final of the year, after ‘s-Hertogenbosch on grass, and took her record in Chennai to 6-1. She was runner-up at the event in 2022, also as the third seed.
Hontama took the opening set 6-4 and broke in the first game of the second to lead 2-0. The decider followed the same pattern. Hontama broke in the opening game on her third break point and held to love for 2-0.
She broke again in the final game, converting her third match point. Linette hit six aces to none and won 71% of her first-serve points, against 61% for Hontama. She broke serve four times, while Hontama saved seven of the 11 break points she faced.
Chennai Open 2026 quarter-final results
Janice Tjen (1) d. Polina Kudermetova (6) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Robin Montgomery d. Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathy (WC) 6-3, 6-3
Magda Linette (3) d. Mai Hontama 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
Anastasia Zakharova (7) vs Lucrezia Stefanini (10)
In bold: today’s results.
