Daria Kasatkina takes up Krejcikova’s offer, Andy Murray weighs in on Zhuhai marathon

With the WTA Elite Trophy underway in Zhuhai, Barbora Krejcikova is rallying all the support from her fanbase—and even rival Daria Kasatkina said "count me in."

Both players are in Group Azalea at the season-ending event taking place at the Hengqin International Tennis Center, where the top-seeded Czech player had an enticing offer for her fans on social media.

“Anyone in Zhuhai who wants to come to watch me tomorrow? Four tickets!” Krejcikova wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

As praise poured in for the 27-year-old’s generous gesture, it was actually No. 6 seed Kasatkina’s response that caught the attention of eagle-eyed fans on social media.

The Russian responded with a few cheeky emojis including the “hand raised” and laughing emoji. “You get a special seat in my players box,” Krejcikova replied.

Krejcikova and Kasatkina are set to face off at WTA Elite Trophy group stage on Wednesday—adding another layer to the hilarious exchange. It will be their third meeting of the year, with Krejcikova leading 2-1 in their 2023 head-to-head.

“I think we just know each other’s game quite well, so I think it’s going to be a nice matchup,” said Krejcikova, who defeated Kasatkina in the Zhengzhou semifinals last week.

While Kasatkina is gearing up for her Zhuhai start, the Czech is up and running with a strong win against No. 11 seed Magda Linette 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

But not everyone in Zhuhai got off to a fast start—Chinese wildcard Zhu Lin needed two hours and 12 minutes to defeat Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (5), 6-1 in two marathon sets. The first set alone clocked in at an hour and 23 minutes.

Their drawn out battle seemed to evoke a nostalgic memory for Portuguese tennis journalist Jose Morgado, who wondered aloud on X, “Andy Murray is that you?”

The former world No. 1 was quick to reply, poking fun at his own reputation for marathon matches.

“83 minutes for a 7-6 set is nothing Jose, come on!” Murray wrote, “Come back to me when they hit 85 minutes for a set.”

Of course, Murray himself needed 84 minutes to win the opening set against Yannick Hanfmann on Monday at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, where he eventually prevailed 7-5, 6-4.

“It was tough,” Murray told press afterwards. “The first four or five games were something like 45 minutes. I don’t remember having that really before, it was ridiculous.

“And then had a chance at the end of the first set, didn’t get it and just managed to sneak a break at the end. Up again in the second, couldn't quite finish it, but did well to respond and get the break at the end.”

Murray moved on to face Tomas Etcheverry for a place in the Basel quarterfinals.

In Zhuhai, both Lin and Kudermetova face Liudmila Samsonova next in the group stage.