After winning a nearly three-and-a-half-hour semifinal on Saturday night at the Chennai Open, Kimberly Birrell could only think about her beaten opponent. 

Chennai: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Trailing 5-0 in the third set against Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei, seventh-seeded Birrell completed one of the more staggering turnarounds of the 2025 Hologic WTA Tour season. She saved five match points and won a total of seven straight games to turn the match around and reach her second career tour-level singles final 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-5.

But the achievement wasn’t chief among Birrell’s concerns after the final ball was struck. As the Aussie started her comeback in the match’s fourth hour, first-time semifinalist Garland began to fade physically in the humid conditions. At one stage in the titanic 10th game — where the World No. 132 had all of her match points — she fell ill at the back of the court and needed medical attention. 

After a medical timeout, a teary-eyed Garland resumed playing and, facing her fifth break point, sent a backhand long. More treatment followed on the next changeover, but it couldn’t improve her state. The 24-year-old nonetheless continued to soldier on until the end, earning the respect of both Birrell and the fans who stuck around for all of the 3 hour, 24-minute encounter.

“She played so well and gave herself the opportunity to win, so it’s unfortunate,” Birrell said after the match, confessing that she “wasn’t thinking too much” about the big deficit she faced beforehand. The conditions are really tough here, and she deserves all the success that she has had this year. I’m sure she’s going to have the chance to play for many more WTA finals, and I hope that she’s OK.”

“She’s a great player and a great person too — we have a friendship off the court and you have to put that aside,” Birrell later said. “When your opponent and a friend is struggling like that, it’s really hard to concentrate and to focus. That was not fun at all the last few games.”

Birrell couldn’t hold back tears herself after winning the joint-ninth longest match of the season, and comforted Garland with a long hug when they met at the net afterwards. The emotions were still raw in her on-court interview afterwards — and when she was subsequently presented with the tournament’s Margaret Amritraj Fairplay Award for her display of sportsmanship.

The award is named after the mother of Indian tennis legend and Tamil Nadu Tennis Association President Vijay Amritraj, who presented Birrell with the honor. 

“One player unfortunately has to win, as we always know,” Amritraj said in presenting the award to Birrell. “This is named after my mom for fair play, and I thought this match was truly one of those matches.”

The 27-year-old, runner-up at the WTA 250 in Osaka last year, will bid for her first WTA singles title against fourth-seeded Indonesian Janice Tjen.