Melbourne [Australia], January 18 : The World No. 57 Anna Blinkova knocked out World No. 3 and 2023 Australian Open finalist Elena Rybakina in a thrilling fashion in the second round on Thursday.
Blinkova engineered the upset of the tournament so far defeating last year's runner-up Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 7-6[20] in the second round. Blinkova will face 26th-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini in the third round.
The 22-20 tiebreak between Rybakina and Blinkova is the longest tiebreak in a singles match in Grand Slam history.
"This day I will remember for the rest of my life. Especially on this court, with this crowd. I will never forget it. It's the best day of my life so far. When I played at the French Open against Caroline, the crowd was mostly against me, obviously. Today they were cheering me up so much. They were incredible. I loved it. My dream came true to play on Rod Laver, full of spectators. The energy was crazy," Blinkova said as quoted by WTA.
In the longest women's singles match-tiebreak in Grand Slam history, Blinkova saved six match points. She then converted on her tenth match point to make her first-ever trip to the Australian Open third round. The 38-point match tiebreak that Lesia Tsurenko and Ana Bogdan played at Wimbledon last summer was replaced by a 42-point match tiebreak.
Through the first set, Blinkova established herself as the more capable and precise baseline hitter. Blinkova produced a fantastic return game to win the opening set's lone break at 2-1. Throughout the first set, which lasted 35 minutes and during which Blinkova never faced a break point, she held her lead.
Yet as the game went on, Rybakina gradually discovered her range. In the second set, the World No. 3 trailed 2-1 but quickly rallied when Blinkova started making more mistakes. At 5-4, Rybakina's return pressure eventually paid off, giving her the first break point of the match. She won the second set with a flawless forehand winner.
"When I had opportunities, when I had match points, I was rushing. My hand was shaking. I tried to be aggressive, but I was making a lot of mistakes," she added.
During the final set, Rybakina was down a break three times, but each time she rallied to force a match-tiebreak. Blinkova had two match points at 6-5 after serving for the victory twice, but Rybakina erased the first with a superb backhand winner, and Blinkova gave her backhand into the net on the second.
Following two hours and fourteen minutes, the contest reached a ten-point tiebreak. Rybakina saved seven additional match points in the tiebreak, which lasted more than 30 minutes, in an exciting see-saw encounter. The World No. 3 came within one point of victory six times, but she was unable to cross the finish line.
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