{"id":360872,"date":"2024-01-18T18:16:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T19:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=360872"},"modified":"2024-01-18T20:02:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T20:02:05","slug":"champ-bombs-out-in-record-long-tie-breaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=360872","title":{"rendered":"Champ bombs out in record-long tie-breaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anna Blinkova needed 10 match points before finally finishing off an upset over 2023 finalist Elena Rybakina<\/a> in a record, half-hour tiebreaker to reach the third round of the Australian Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Blinkova was a break up in all three sets but third-ranked Rybakina rallied each time. The 2022 Wimbledon champion had six match points of her own before eventually running out of chances against her Russian opponent in a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20) defeat.<\/p>\n

In terms of points \u2014 42 \u2014 it was the longest tiebreaker ever in a women's grand slam event.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was super tough. I had so many match points,\u201d the No.57-ranked Blinkova said.<\/p>\n

"And I tried to be aggressive but my hand was shaking. And my legs, too!<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to be calm, as much as I could. Super happy in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Russia's<\/p>\n

Unlike Rybakina, top-ranked Iga Swiatek had an escape in the opening match on Rod Laver Arena when she rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to beat 2022 runner-up Danielle Collins 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> World No.1's startling airport interview admission<\/strong><\/a>\ufeff<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can actually relax a little bit more because you know that, \u2018OK, probably I\u2019m going to lose, so I don\u2019t care anymore,\u2019\u201d Swiatek said. \u201cThen it\u2019s easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her on-court interview, she joked: \u201cHonestly, I was on the airport already.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I wanted to fight to the end, she said. \u201dI\u2019m really proud of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

Collins announced soon after that 2024 would be her last season on tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I lost 6-4 in the third to one of the best players in the world,\u201d Collins said. \u201cAnd she played some great tennis. (I) left it all on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

In one of the tournament\u2019s toughest opening brackets, both players beat past Australian Open champions in the first round; Swiatek beat 2020 champion Sofia Kenin and Collins overcame 2016 winner Angelique Kerber.<\/p>\n

The four-time major winner next faces No. 50-ranked Linda Noskova, who beat U.S. qualifier McCartney Kessler 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.<\/p>\n

Fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula\u2019s run of three consecutive quarterfinals in Australia was ended in a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Clara Burel. It was Pegula\u2019s earliest Grand Slam exit since she lost in the second round at Wimbledon in 2021.<\/p>\n

Sloane Stephens, the U.S. Open winner in 2017, took out No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. She advanced along with No. 12 Zheng Qinwen, No. 19 Elina Svitolina (19) and No. 27 Emma Navarro.<\/p>\n

Wang Yafan had a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion returning from a long-term injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anna Blinkova needed 10 match points before finally finishing off an upset over 2023 finalist Elena Rybakina in a record, half-hour tiebreaker to reach the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":360874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=360872"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":360877,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360872\/revisions\/360877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/360874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=360872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=360872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=360872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}