MELBOURNE โ Her hand and her legs were shaking, sheโd missed nine match points but also saved six, and Anna Blinkova was 41 points into a wild tiebreaker that was the longest ever in a womenโs Grand Slam event.
Elena Rybakina, last year's Australian Open runner-up, was just as anxious on the other side of the net.
Recommended Videos
When Blinkova lunged to retrieve a backhand, aiming just to keep the rally alive, and Rybakina's next backhand sailed wide, it finished off a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20) second-round victory Thursday that she'll never, ever forget.
โIt took me courage,โ she said. โIt took me some certain calmness to stay in the present moment and to play point by point no matter what happens.โ
Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who was runner-up here last year to Aryna Sabalenka, saved two match points in a third set that contained six service breaks.
Blinkova twice served for the match but couldnโt finish off, and a double-fault in the 12th game sent it to a 10-point tiebreaker. Once there, 13 minutes after her first match points, Blinkova had two more points at 9-7 but again Rybakina saved them, and so it went on.
Blinkova, smiling, later described it as the โendless tiebreaker.โ It went on for 32 minutes until Rybakinaโs backhand error ended it.
In terms of points โ 42 โ it was the longest tiebreaker ever in a women's major.
โIt was super tough. I had so many match points,โ said Blinkova, who is ranked 57th and had 13 first-round exits in her previous 20 majors. "I tried to be aggressive but my hand was shaking. And my legs, too!
โI tried to be calm, as much as I could."
It was one that Rybakina will dwell on, too. She knew she wasted chances.
But โIโm really proud that I could fight till the end,โ Rybakina said. โI mean, you can't always play perfect. And of course I could have lost it even earlier.โ
It was a long, tough night for the tournamentโs No. 3 seeds on Melbourne Park's main court.
Daniil Medvedev had to rally from two sets down to beat Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0 in a 4-hour, 23-minute match that ended at 3:39 a.m. local time.
Day 5 started with top-ranked Iga Swiatek had a narrow escape when she rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to beat 2022 runner-up Danielle Collins 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Swiatek was down two service breaks in the deciding set before she went on a five-game winning roll to finish off a match that featured wild momentum shifts and a 25-minute rain delay in 3 hours, 14 minutes.
โYou can actually relax a little bit more because you know that, โOK, probably Iโm going to lose, so I donโt care anymore,โโ Swiatek said. โThen itโs easier.โ
In her on-court interview, she joked: โHonestly, I was on the airport already.โ
โBut I wanted to fight to the end, she said. โIโm really proud of myself.โ
Collins announced soon after that 2024 would be her last season on tour.
โYeah, I lost 6-4 in the third to one of the best players in the world,โ Collins said. โAnd she played some great tennis. (I) left it all on the court.โ
Swiatek, a four-time major winner, next faces No. 50-ranked Linda Noskova, who beat U.S. qualifier McCartney Kessler 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Fifth-ranked Jessica Pegulaโs run of three consecutive quarterfinals in Australia was ended in a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Clara Burel. Her fellow American, 2017 U.S. Open winner Sloane Stephens, took out No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and advanced along with No. 11 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 12 Zheng Qinwen, No. 19 Elina Svitolina and No. 27 Emma Navarro.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu's comeback major ended in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Wang Yafan.
Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz dropped a set for the first time in the tournament before recovering to beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (3).
With a strong breeze to contend with, Alcaraz was tested by Lorenzo Sonego before coming through in four sets and will next face 18-year-old Chinese wildcard entry Shang Juncheng, who ousted Indiaโs Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
Itโll be the first time on tour Alcaraz has faced a younger player.
โHe beat some big guys,โ Alcaraz said of Shangโs run to the semifinals in Hong Kong earlier this month. โSo I know he has the level. Heโs already there.โ
Arthur Cazaux upset No. 8 Holger Rune 7-6 (4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 but No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 14 Tommy Paul, No. 19 Cameron Norrie, No. 21 Ugo Humbert and No. 27 Felix Auger-Aliassime all advanced.
Two earlier matches went the distance before being decided in 10-point tiebreakers: Olympic champion Alexander Zverev fended off Lukas Klein 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) in 4 1/2 hours and No. 11 Casper Ruud edged Max Purcell 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
โHe played incredible. He was hitting every single ball as hard as he could from both sides,โ Zverev said of Klein, a No. 163-ranked qualifier from Slovakia. โI didnโt really know what to do most of the times. To be honest, he probably deserved to win the match more than me today.โ
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis