By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, January 18, 2024
Anna Blinkova saved 6 match points then converted her 10th match point shocking Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(20) in a epic and historic AO upset.
Photo credit: Kelly Defina/Getty
Rod Laver Arena was rocking and Anna Blinkova was shaking.
Repeatedly exhorting herself to “go for it”, Blinka showed pure guts creating seismic shock on a wild and crazy Australian Open night.
More: Teenage Andreeva Upsets Jabeur
A brave Blinkova saved six match points in the breaker before converting her 10th match point stunning third-seeded Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(20) in an epic and exhilarating Australian Open second-round upset climaxing with the longest singles tiebreaker in Grand Slam history.
The 57th-ranked Blinkova scored the second Top 5 win of her career and biggest triumph of her life exhibiting eternal resolve to rise in what she called an "endless tiebreaker."
"This day I will remember for the rest of my life, especially on this court and this crowd," a beaming Blinkova told Laura Robson in her on-court interview. "I will never forget it.
"It’s the best day of my life."
It came about seven months after Blinkova beat former WTA Finals champion and No. 5 Caroline Garcia at the 2023 Roland Garros.
Overcoming Garcia and French fans in Paris last spring, Blinkova rode a wave of energy erupting from appreciative Aussie fans tonight.
"When I played at the French Open against Caroline, the crowd was mostly against me, obviously," Blinkova said. "Today they were cheering me up so much. They were incredible.
"I loved it. I loved it. My dream came true to play on Rod Laver, full of spectators. The energy was crazy. I enjoyed it a lot."
Both women showed warrior spirit and true sportsmanship throughout with Rybakina twice breaking back in the final set when Blinkova served for the match.
A week of upsets continues. Five of the Top 10 women's seeds failed to survive the second round. Rybakina joins No. 5-seeded Jessica Pegula, sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur, No. 7-seeded Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova and eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari in dropping from the draw.
Crowd cheers echoing in their ears, both women made stirring stands throughout a dizzying, dramatic and deeply jittery final set.
The 2023 AO finalist Rybakina repelled match points when Blinkova served for the third round. Rybakina rose up again saving match points in a tremendous and tense 31-minute tiebreaker.
Facing one of the game’s most fearsome servers, Blinkova didn’t blink even after seeing match point after match point slip from her grip.
“First of all, thank you so much to the crowd for cheering for me and encouraging me, it gave me so much energy to fight to the end,” Blinkova told Laura Robson afterward. “It was super tough. I just tried to stay focused on every point.
“I had so many match points and I tried to be aggressive at these moments, but my hand was shaking and my legs too. And I tried to be calm as hard as I could and I’m super happy to win in the end.”
This 42-point match tiebreaker broke the 38-point tiebreaker played in the Wimbledon third round last summer when 60th-ranked Lesia Tsurenko edged Ana Bogdan 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(18).
Tonight’s tiebreaker turned heartbreaker for former Wimbledon champion Rybakina and dream maker for Blinkova, who refused to lose.
“I was telling myself to go for it,” Blinkova said. “I was also telling myself to stay solid, solid, solid and keep putting the ball in the court, in the court, in the court and finally it worked out.”
It all happened on the same Rod Laver Court that saw world No. 1 Iga Swiatek roar back from a 1-4 double-break deficit to defeat 2022 finalist Danielle Collins with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 comeback conquest.
Deadlocked at 15-all in tonight’s epic tiebreaker, Rybakina ripped a backhand winner crosscourt for another match point only to send a forehand long.
Stepping in for a high forehand, Rybakina netted it to give Blinkova and eighth match point at 17-16.
After missing a pair of forehands, Rybakina showed sheer courage hammering a crosscourt forehand winner to erase the eighth match point for 17-17.
Unleashing another heavy crosscourt forehand gave Rybakina another match point at 18-17.
A relentless Blinkova made one of the most remarkable defensive stands down match point you’ll see.
In a dizzying exchange, a scrambling Blinkova make some astounding running gets, including a squash shot forehand on the full stretch to extend the point, then she ran down a dropper and hit a forehand pass that a lunging Rybakina could not control for 18-18.
Undaunted Rybakina went back to work spreading the court with forehands to edge ahead 19-18 only to float a forehand long.
At 19-19, Blinkova belted and inside-out backhand winner for 20-19.
Rybakina fought off a deep return on the ninth match point and Blinkova put a backhand down line into net. The fight raged on at 20-20 and the crowd erupted urging both women to keep fighting.
An unrelenting Blinkova threw down a smash for 21-20 and a 10th match point 30 minutes, 30 seconds into this tiebreaker.
Rybakina was all over a short backhand and basically could have hit it anywhere, but she shoveled her backhand long as Blinka dropped to her knees and pushed back tears of joy.
Blowing up this second quarter of the draw, Blinkova now faces the challenge of coming down from an emotional rollercoaster and resetting to face 26th-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini next.
The winner of that match will play either 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, who knocked off 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina, or 75th-ranked Anna Kalinskaya in the round of 16.