WATCH: ‘Emotional’ Anna Blinkova struggles to get up after stunning Elena Rybakina in the longest tie-breaker ever in women’s tennis history

Each second seemed to stretch into eternity as both Elena Rybakina and Anna Blinkova fought for their place in the Australian Open.

World No. 3 Rybakina was left speechless by the Russians in what is arguably the biggest upset so far. In a battle of serves, both players took the match deep to record one of the longest tiebreaks in history. 

With neither of them willing to lose the match, a 10-point tiebreak went up to 22 points with Blinkova emerging victorious 6-4, 4-6, 7(22)-6(20). This was an emotional match for the Russian who let it all out after the winning point. 

After a toilsome match, Blinkova ran to her team and just let the tears flow. Recording her first top-10 win of her career, the Russian moves on to the third round at the Australian Open.

With this, she engraves her name in the history books. After a record-breaking super tie break, both players get their names etched into Grand Slam history. The 2023 Australian Open finalist suffered a tough loss, leaving the draw very open for anyone to steal the limelight and emerge as the winner of the Grand Slam.

Anna Blinkova was super happy to win the game, thanks to the crowd for cheering her on

After a grueling 2-hour and 46-minute long match, Anna Blinkova stuns the World No. 3 Elina Rybakina as she secures her spot in round 3 of the Australian Open. 

Rybakina had 6 match points before eventually losing 22-20 in the longest tiebreaker in women’s singles Grand Slam history with 42 points in 32 minutes.

As the umpire announced Game, Set, Match! Blinkova stood in complete silence as the Rod Laver Arena erupted with pride. They cheered on the Russian who stood tall in an intense battle amping up her ranking and confidence heading into her next match.

After the match, the Russian thanked the crowd for cheering her on and admitted to staying focused on every point. 

I tried to be calm as hard as I could. Super happy to win in the end. 

Said Anna Blinkova after an emotional victory.

Furthermore, she was revealed to be shaking during the match as she had numerous match points. However, with Rybakina showing her class, the Russian struggled to close out the match before eventually winning it in the tie-break.

This was yet another upset at the Australian Open as both youngsters and experienced ones are trying to make the most out of the first Grand Slam.

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