Top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova retired from her opening match at the WTA Memphis Classic on Tuesday after collapsing on court due to heat exhaustion in 34-degree Celsius conditions.
The world No. 19 was trailing 7-6(2), 4-6, 5-4 against 16-year-old qualifier Kristina Liutova after three hours and 11 minutes of play.
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Extreme temperature and humidity forced an end to the match as Alexandrova struggled throughout the decider.
The 31-year-old Russian received a time violation for taking too long to serve before collapsing mid-point, which prompted immediate on-court medical attention.
She eventually withdrew just two points from defeat.
The chaotic scene left Liutova overwhelmed in tears on the court, despite securing the biggest win of her career.
Liutova, ranked No. 229 after rising nearly 500 spots this season, became the second player born in 2010 to win a WTA tour-level match.
She converted five of 21 break point opportunities against the top seed.
Alexandrova struggled with consistency throughout the high-temperature marathon, committing 15 double faults despite saving 16 of the 21 break points she faced.
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Liutova advances to face American Maya Joint in the round of 16.
Other Memphis and Washington Results
In another marathon main-draw match at Memphis, Caty McNally rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the third set to defeat Wang Xiyu 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in three hours and 11 minutes.
Action at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington featured 46-year-old Venus Williams suffering a 6-3, 6-3 first-round defeat to Anastasia Potapova.
It marked Williams' ninth consecutive singles loss of 2026.
Potapova advanced to face fourth seed Diana Shnaider in the second round after holding the seven-time Grand Slam champion to just 24.1 percent of points won on her second serve.
In the men's draw in Washington, 17-year-old Cruz Hewitt claimed his first ATP Tour victory by beating Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-4.
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He became the youngest player to win a match at the event since Kei Nishikori in 2007.
