Elena Rybakina and Anna Blinkova played out an epic second-round Australian Open clash on Thursday, and the duo made history for the longest-ever women's tie-break at a Grand Slam event.
Blinkova took the first set (6-4) before Rybakina fought back to take the second (also 6-4). A tense and lengthy final set unfolded, and the players couldn't be separated, with the games tied at 6-6 ahead of the marathon tie-break.
Eventually, Blinkova stunned Rybakina thanks to a 22-20 tie-break win in the third set. During the spectacular contest, the pair matched the previous record for the longest tie-break in terms of points (39), but this was then broken as the players would go on to play to 42 to end the match.
It was a heartbreaking way for the world number three Rybakina to crash out of the Australian Open, especially after the Kazakhstani player gave up six match points during the match, too.
However, Blinkova showed plenty of resilience to keep going against one of the top WTA players of recent years as the Russian progressed to the third round at the Australian Open - matching her best-ever Grand Slam run.
"I had negative thoughts coming to my head, especially when I could not convert my match points and I was match point down on the return. I had a lot of thoughts what if she serves well, what if she hits big first serve, it's going to be over."
Rybakina will be looking to recover quickly from the shock Australian Open exit, which will come as a major blow after she made a promising start to the new season.
The 24-year-old started the 2024 campaign with a title win at the Brisbane International, winning the final with a dominant straight sets win over Aryna Sabalenka.
However, a quarter-final exit at the Adelaide International followed after Rybakina lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets before the latest setback at Melbourne Park against Blinkova.
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