Svetlana Kuznetsova's hard-fought 3-6 6-2 7-6 victory over Karolina Pliskova maintained her winning run at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Despite having never progressed past the group stage of the season-ending tournament on five previous occasions, a second victory of the week has given her the best possible chance of progress to the last four.
Most of those following the season finale of the WTA Tour will have given this match only a cursory glance, awaiting the more tempting fixture of Garbine Muguruza and Agnieszka Radwanska, but those who tuned in were rewarded with a lengthy battle, and compelling comeback story.
This year, Kuznetsova qualified at the last possible moment, scraping into the draw with a title defence in Moscow and arriving as an outsider.
Just as she did in her opening match of the event, during which she came from a match point down to topple reigning champion Agnieszka Radwanska, the Russian discarded the form book, and fought hard for a well-deserved victory.
After a poor start, allowing Pliskova to tear into a one set lead, Kuznetsova could have gone one of two ways: clearing her mind and staging an improbable comeback, or crying at the change of ends and hacking off her own hair.
She chose the former, levelling the pair's head-to-head with a win which places her at the top of the White Group in Singapore.
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Over three sets of wonderful shot-making, the pair traded blows, their similar games producing some big serves, deft finishes at the net, and intelligent wrong footing of the other.
Pliskova, in particular, was reading the game beautifully, frequently setting up an open expanse of court into which to play an easy winner.
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The world No 5 has matured significantly over the past couple of seasons, most notably in developing fluid movement belying her height, and a fearsome weapon in her cross-court forehand.
Pliskova dominated the first set, Kuznetsova the second, and - as both players noticeably tired - the third became a draining affair, littered with errors, double faults, and misdirected net play. The Russian was swiftly up 4-1 in the final set, before her opponent wrested the match back under control, gifting herself the chance to level the fixture.
A lengthy deuce - punctuated with several crucial net cords - was eventually seized by Kuznetsova, breaking down Pliskova's game with a series of unreturnable shots down the line.
Just when the result appeared settled, the youngster broke back, lashing several breathtaking groundstrokes past her flagging opponent to level the match at five all.
A break, and then a break back: as the clock showed two hours, the match segued into a war of attrition, the scores levelled, and a tie break was ushered in.
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Two match points slipped from Kuznetsova's grasp, as she faltered at 6-3, before an unrelenting Pliskova took the scoreline to 6-6 - levelling, not only the tie break, but the entire match at 94 points apiece.
Experience told, however, and the Russian - who had fought so very hard to appear in Singapore at all - was not prepared to relinquish the victory. With a startlingly accurate cross-court backhand, she secured the tiebreak 8-6, falling to the ground in elation.
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