In a remarkable turn of events at the Australian Open women’s draw on Thursday, Anna Blinkova secured victory against Elena Rybakina in a historic match. The deciding set witnessed a record-breaking tie-break, lasting 42 points – the longest in singles match history at a grand slam, as reported by the Australian Open.
Blinkova demonstrated extraordinary resilience by saving six match points during this historic tie-break, eventually prevailing on her 10th match point to progress to the third round in Melbourne for the first time.
This 42-point match-tiebreak surpassed the previous record of 38 points set by Lesia Tsurenko and Ana Bogdan at Wimbledon last summer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Roddick at the 2007 Australian Open.
The thrilling 2-hour, 46-minute victory stands as Blinkova’s career-best by ranking and marks her second Top 5 win in the last 12 months, with both victories occurring at Grand Slam events. Previously defeating Caroline Garcia at Roland Garros last spring, Blinkova’s tenacity shone through in this historic match.
Blinkova secured the breakthrough by winning a challenging 12-point rally, concluding with a well-placed overhead winner. Her final match point was converted when Rybakina missed a backhand. Looking ahead, Blinkova is set to face 26th-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini in the third round, with the winner earning a coveted spot in the Grand Slam Round of 16.
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