Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 7 May 2015 | tennis.com.au

Sam Stosur has fallen to Svetlana Kuznetsova in an epic on Manola Santana court in the third round of the Madrid Masters on Wednesday night.

The Australian fell to her frequent doubles partner 5-7 6-2 7-6(5) in two hours and 43 minutes.

On a dramatic day on Madrid’s centre court – Maria Sharapova was extended to three sets, Serena Williams saved match points in her win and Nick Kyrgios stunned Roger Federer after saving match points – Stosur and Kuznetsova began their match far later than expected.

They, too, went the distance.

The Russian overcame nine double faults and needed five match points to finally subdue Stosur, in a match finishing at 1am local time.

Kuznetsova will have less than a day to recover before facing Lucie Safarova in the quarterfinals.

Despite the loss, Stosur’s third-round finish in Madrid was the strongest performance of her season to date; she beat the in-form Angelique Kerber in the first round before beating Kaia Kanepi in straight sets in round two.