MELBOURNE: Third seed Elena Rybakina’s bid to reach back-to-back Australian Open finals ended in disappointment as she crashed to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(20) defeat by unseeded Russian Anna Blinkova after a wild deciding tie-break in the second round today.
The big-hitting former Wimbledon champion, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s title clash, began the match sluggishly as her ex-doubles partner capitalised with an early break which proved enough for her to go on and wrap up the opening set.
The 25-year-old Blinkova built up the pressure and pounced on her opponent’s serve again in the second set to take a 2-1 lead but Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina responded with one of her own as the powerful duo were evenly matched after eight games.
Brisbane champion Rybakina shifted up a gear and drew level at one set apiece before the players traded breaks freely in the decider which was settled in a tie-break for the ages as the gutsy Blinkova equalled her best Grand Slam performance.