MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan 18, (AP): Her hand and her legs were shaking, she’d missed nine match points but also saved six, and Anna Blinkova was 41 points into a wild tiebreaker that was the longest ever in a women’s Grand Slam event.
Elena Rybakina, last year’s Australian Open runner-up, was just as anxious on the other side of the net.
When Blinkova lunged to retrieve a backhand, aiming just to keep the rally alive, and Rybakina’s next backhand sailed wide, it finished off a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20) second-round victory Thursday that she’ll never, ever forget.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who was runner-up here last year to Aryna Sabalenka, saved two match points in a third set that contained six service breaks.
Blinkova twice served for the match but couldn’t finish off, and a double-fault in the 12th game sent it to a 10-point tiebreaker. Once there, 13 minutes after her first match points, Blinkova had two more points at 9-7 but again Rybakina saved them, and so it went on.
Blinkova, smiling, later described it as the “endless tiebreaker.” It went on for 32 minutes until Rybakina’s backhand error ended it.

In terms of points - 42 - it was the longest tiebreaker ever in a women’s major.
Unlike Rybakina, top-ranked Iga Swiatek had a narrow 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.
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  
Collins announced soon after that 2024 would be her last season on tour.

Swiatek, a four-time major winner, next faces No. 50-ranked Linda Noskova, who beat U.S. qualifier McCartney Kessler 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula’s run of three consecutive quarterfinals in Australia was ended in a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Clara Burel. Her fellow American, 2017 U.S. Open winner Sloane Stephens, took out No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and advanced along with No. 11 Jelena Ostapenko, No. 12 Zheng Qinwen, No. 19 Elina Svitolina and No. 27 Emma Navarro.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu’s comeback major ended in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Wang Yafan.

Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz dropped a set for the first time in the tournament before recovering to beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (3).
With a strong breeze to contend with, Alcaraz was tested by Lorenzo Sonego before coming through in four sets and will next face 18-year-old Chinese wildcard entry Shang Juncheng, who ousted India’s Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

It’ll be the first time on tour Alcaraz has faced a younger player.Arthur Cazaux upset No. 8 Holger Rune 7-6 (4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 but No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 14 Tommy Paul, No. 19 Cameron Norrie, No. 21 Ugo Humbert and No. 27 Felix Auger-Aliassime all advanced.

Two earlier matches went the distance before being decided in 10-point tiebreakers: Olympic champion Alexander Zverev fended off Lukas Klein 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) in 4 1/2 hours and No. 11 Casper Ruud edged Max Purcell 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
“He played incredible. He was hitting every single ball as hard as he could from both sides,” Zverev said of Klein, a No. 163-ranked qualifier from Slovakia. “I didn’t really know what to do most of the times. To be honest, he probably deserved to win the match more than me today.”