Anna Blinkova needed 10 match points before finally finishing an upset of 2023 finalist Elena Rybakina in a half-hour tiebreaker to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
Blinkova was a break up in all three sets, but the third-ranked Rybakina rallied each time. The 2022 Wimbledon champion had six match points of her own before eventually running out of chances in a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20) defeat.
In terms of points, at 42 it was the longest tiebreaker in a women’s Grand Slam, passing the 38-point tiebreaker between Lesia Tsurenko and Ana Bogdan at last year’s Wimbledon. It was also the longest tiebreaker ever at the Australian Open for men’s or women’s singles.
“This day I’ll remember for the rest of my life, on this court with this crowd, it’s the best of my life so far,” said Blinkova, shortly after she shared a hug with Rybakina at the net as the crowd gave the pair a standing ovation. “Thank you to the crowd for encouraging me. It gave me so much energy to fight until the end.
“It was super tough. I tried to stay focused on every point. I had so many match points and tried to be aggressive at these moments, but my hand was shaking and my legs too.”
Rybakina became the fifth top-seeded women to lose in the first two rounds. The five remaining top-10 women are the fewest in the third round of the Australian Open under the 128 main draw format (since 1988), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The big-hitting former Wimbledon champion, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Australian Open title clash, began the match sluggishly as Blinkova, her former doubles partner, capitalized with an early break before wrapping up the opening set.
The 25-year-old Blinkova built up the pressure and pounced on her opponent’s serve again in the second set to take a 2-1 lead, but Rybakina responded with a break her own to tie the set 4-4.
Rybakina shifted up a gear and drew level at one set apiece before the players traded breaks freely in the decider to set up their epic tiebreaker finish.
Blinkova equaled her best Grand Slam performance and will take on No. 26 Jasmine Paolini in the third round.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.