The 3rd-seeded Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) was knocked out in the second round of the Australian Open by Anna Blinkova (Russia) after 1-2 (4:6, 6:4, 6:7) in a match that lasted 2:48 hours.
In the first set, Anna Blinkova reached a break in the third game, which was enough for her to win the set. The Russian tennis player started the second set better and managed to win her opponent’s serve for 2:1. However, Elena Rybakina, who is a finalist in the tournament from last year, quickly returned the break, and in the decisive tenth game she managed to make a new break and won the set by 6:4.
This is how it came to the crazy third set, in which Anna Blinkova took the lead again with a break in the third game for 2:1. At the end of the set, the two made a total of 5 breaks – three for Elena Rybakina and two for Anna Blinkova to reach a decisive, long tiebreak. It dragged on endlessly, with Anna Blinkova missing 9 match points (2 in the twelfth game and 7 in the tiebreak), and Elena Rybakina missed 6 match points.
It was the longest tiebreak in a singles match in the history of women’s tennis at a Grand Slam tournament, reaching a total of 42 points. The Russian player still triumphed with 22-20. Thus, Anna Blinkova qualified for the third round of the Australian Open, where will face Jasmine Paolini (Italy), who defeated Tatjana Maria (Germany) by 2-0 (6:2, 6:3).
The 18th-seeded Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) also advanced ahead in he tournament after defeating Clara Tauson (Denmark) by 2-1 (6:4, 3:6, 6:2). The former world’s number one Victoria Azarenka, who is a two-time Melbourne champion (2012 and 2013), broke twice in the first set to take a 4:1 lead and won by 6:4. Clara Tauson equalized after winning the second set, but the Belarusian was better and at the end won the match.
In the next round, Victoria Azarenka will face the 11th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia), who defeated Ajla Tomljanovic (Australia) by 2-1 (6:0, 3:6, 6:4).
Meanwhile, Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine) defeated Varvara Gracheva (France) by 2-0 (6:3, 6:2).
