Perhaps more than any other major, the Australian Open is know for epic matches and late-night finishes. It comes at the beginning of the season, when players are generally healthy and willing to battle on the court for as long as it takes. It’s “the Happy Slam.” It’s also the most dramatic slam.
Even by those lofty standards, though, Thursday in Melbourne was nothing short of amazing.
Out of 16 men’s singles matches, six required five sets. Combine that with nine three-setters on the women’s side and 15 matches went to deciding sets.
That number included the longest singles tiebreaker in Grand Slam history. A second-round thriller between 2023 finalist Elena Rybakina and unseeded Russian Anna Blinkova ended with the underdog triumphing 22-20 in the third-set super-‘breaker.
Blinkova saved six match points in total; Rybakina fought off nine before her opponent finally converted her 10th opportunity.
“I had so many match points,” Blinkova said. “I tried to be aggressive in these moments, but my hands were shaking–my legs, too. I had negative thoughts coming to my head, especially when I could not convert my match points and I was match point down on the return…. I tried to push these thoughts away…. I was telling myself to stay solid all the time, just to keep running everywhere and putting all the balls in the court.
“This day I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Won’t we all?
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek almost joined the third-seeded Rybakina on the next flight out of Australia. In fact, in her post-match interview following an epic win over Danielle Collins the Pole said she was “almost at the airport.”
And she was. Swiatek trailed Collins, the 2022 Australian Open runner-up, by a double-break at 4-1 in the third set. Somehow, though, the 22-year-old reeled off five games in a row to survive 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 after three hours and 14 minutes.
As fun as all of that was, there was arguably even more drama in the men’s draw. At one point during the afternoon, matches on adjacent courts went into fifth-set tiebreakers at basically the exact same time. In Margaret Court Arena, Casper Ruud broke the hearts of a raucous Aussie crowd by outlasting Max Purcell 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-7). A thriller in John Cain Arena saw Alexander Zverev fend off the upset bid of Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(10-7).
On the heels of those results, there was only one way this day could end–if it was ever going to end at all.
It finally did end, but not before we were three hours and 39 minutes into the following day. Predictably, the nightcap in Rod Laver Arena also went five sets. No. 5 seed and two-time Aussie Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev capped off a marathon order of play by coming back from two sets down to defeat Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-0. The match lasted four hours and 23 minutes. It started at 11:16 pm on Thursday and ended at 3:39 am on Friday.
“Honestly, guys…I wouldn’t be here,” Medvedev told the crowd during his on-court interview. “If I was a tennis fan, I’d be at home. Thanks for being here. You’re strong.”
So strong that they’ll be ready to do it all over again on Friday. After all, they’re used to this madness in Melbourne.
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