Anna Blinkova wins longest tiebreak in tennis grand slam history

Anna Blinkova of Moscow, Russia made tennis history on Thursday by winning the longest tiebreak in tennis grand slam history. She upset the third seed and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, with the third set tiebreak going to a super tie break score of 22-20 in Blinkova’s favour. Blinkova was victorious in a match that lasted two hours and 46 minutes. Rybakina is now one of five top-10 seeds in the women’s draw eliminated from the 2024 Australian Open.

Previous longest tiebreak at a major

There have been four prior tiebreakers that resulted in a 20-18 score in singles play. In men’s action, Bjorn Borg of Sweden beat Premjit Lall of India, 6-3, 6-4, 9-8 in the first round of Wimbledon in 1973, with the 20-18 tiebreak score coming in the third set. At the 1993 United States Open, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia beat Daniel Nestor of Canada, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in the first round, with the 20-18 tiebreak score coming in the third set. At the 2007 Australian Open, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France won the first set tiebreak over Andy Roodick of the United States 20-18 before losing 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3. At the 2023 Wimbledon, Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine beat Ana Bogdan of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in the third round, with the 20-18 tiebreak score coming in the third set.

One of five Second Round Super Tiebreaks

There were five final set tiebreaks in the second round in the single draws. In women’s action, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine beat Elise Mertens of Belgium, the 25th seed and 2018 Australian Open semifinalist,  5-7, 6-1, 7-6 [10-6]. In men’s action, the sixth seed and 2020 United States Open finalist Alexander Zvrerev of Germany beat Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 [10-7], Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia beat the 24th seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 1-6, 7-6 [11-9], and three-time grand slam finalist (2022 United States Open, 2022 French Open and 2023 French Open) Casper Ruud of Norway beat Australia’s Max Purcell of Australia 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 [10-7].

One of Five Women’s Top 10 Seeds Eliminated

Rybakina is one of five players in the women’s draw ranked in the top 10 who did not make the third round. She is joined by fifth seed Jessica Pegula of the United States (lost 6-4, 6-2 to Clara Burel of France in round two), eighth seed Maria Sakkari of Greece (lost 6-4, 6-4 to Elina Avanesyan of Russia in round two), sixth seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia (lost 6-0, 6-2 to Mirra Andrea of Russia in round two), and seventh seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic (lost 6-1, 6-2 to Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine in round one).