Third seed Elena Rybakina headlines a list of seeded women knocked out in the second round of the Australian Open, falling to her former doubles partner in a historic match.
Russian Anna Blinkova survived the longest tie breaker in women’s grand slam history to knockout last year’s Australian Open finalist 6-4 4-6 7-6(22/20).
Blinkova was brilliant from the start while the former Wimbledon champion was sluggish, falling a break down early and losing the first set.
Rybakina came from a break down in the second set to send the match to a decider, which proved to be one of the most dramatic in recent grand slam history.
After more than 30 minutes, Blinkova secured the biggest win of her career in what eventually became a 42-point tie breaker.
“This day I will remember for the rest of my life — especially on this court, in front of this crowd,” an emotional Blinkova said.
“I will never forget it, it is the best day of my life so far.”
Blinkova could have won the match much earlier.
She twice had a service game for the match in the third set, and a match point before the tie breaker.
The Russian had more than 10 match points during the 42-point tie breaker, but also faced multiple match points as well.
She was down 17-18 and facing Rybakina’s serve when the match looked lost as she ran cross court multiple times, defending for her tournament life.
Somehow she was able to return everything the Kazak threw at her, proving to be a worthy winner of the epic match.
“I don’t know what to say. It was super tough. I just tried to stay focused on every point,” she said.
“I had so many match points. I was trying to be aggressive at these moments but my hand was shaking, and my legs too.
“I tried to be calm, as hard as I could. Super happy to win in the end.
“I was telling myself to stay solid … keep putting ball in the court … and finally it worked out.”
The women’s draw was blown open in the second round of this year’s tournament.
The first shock of the second round came on Wednesday when 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva defeated world number six Ons Jabeur.
Magdalena Frech then knocked-out 16th seed Caroline Garcia.
On Thursday, women’s fifth seed Jessica Pegula fell in straight sets to Frenchwoman Clara Burel.
The tournament’s 14th seed Daria Kasatkina was knocked out by unseeded, but former grand slam winner, Sloane Stephens.
The fall of several top players in the women’s draw has opened up a clearer path for the top two seeds, Iga Świątek and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka.
But this Australian Open has proven to be up for grabs, with Świątek just scrapping through her second round match with former finalist Danielle Collins.
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