‘Absolute insanity’: World No. 3 KOed in historic Aussie Open scenes

It has taken an utterly bonkers super tie-breaker which had to smash the all-time record to blow the women’s draw wide open.

Blinkova fell to her knees after the win. Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP

Russian World No. 57 Anna Blinkova has pulled off one of the wildest victories seen at the Australian Open, defeating World No. 3 and 2023 Australian Open Finalist Elena Rybakina in a 31-minute super tie-breaker.

Blinkova eventually won 6-4 4-6 7-6 with the tie-break going to 22-20.

“Have you seen anything like this?” one of the commentators said as it got to 17-all in the final set tie breaker.

“The absolute insanity of this match will be talked about for days.”

At it got to 19-18, the commentators revealed it was the longest women’s tie-break in Australian Open history.

The previous tie-break record at a Grand Slam was 38 points, which happened on two occasions — at the 2007 Australian Open and at last year’s Wimbledon.

The 2023 Australian Open finalist is out. Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images

It’s the biggest win of Blinkova’s career. Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP

The reaction to the epic contest was swift.

“One of the wildest, most compelling, dramatic, longest tie-breaks you will ever see,” Chris Fowler said on ESPN.

Extraordinary win by Anna Blinkova over Rybakina …23/21 in TB pic.twitter.com/tW9NTvl7h4

— 🎗️ Paul McNamee (@PaulFMcNamee) January 18, 2024

Rybakina on the losing end of two absolute #AusOpen classics - last year’s final, then that epic tiebreaker

— Oliver Caffrey (@ollycaffrey) January 18, 2024

I am shattered for Rybakina, but this was one of the best matches in WTA I have seen. Thought I’d chuck up my heart at one stage 🫣 https://t.co/taOrcnnSXS

— Rina (@Savva_M) January 18, 2024

The result is massive for Blinkova, who had never beat a player ranked as high as Rybakina.

“I just tried to stay focused on every point — I had so many match points,” the 25-year-old said.

“I tried to be aggressive at these moments but my hands were shaking … and my legs too.

“I tried to be calm as much as I could and super happy to win in the end.”

That clearly meant a lot. Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP

Blinkova was clearly overwhelmed by the result.

“This day I will remember for the rest of my life, especially on this court, with this crowd, I will never forget it,” she said.

“It’s the best day of my life so far.”

Blinkova will face 26th-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini in the third round.

Incredibly, with 32 players left in the third round, only 12 seeded players are left as there have been upsets aplenty in the women’s draw.

On a day of striking second-round upsets, women’s fifth seed Jessica Pegula also crashed out, along with men’s eighth seed Holger Rune.