When Rybakina sent the ball long again on yet another match to level it at 19-19,even the chair umpire couldn’t help but break into a broad grin.

At 20-20,Blinkova got the better of Rybakina’s second serve with a highly aggressive strategy that allowed her to come to the net and smash out the winner. Match point down,Rybakina belted the return of serve to Blinkova’s backhand side. The Russian only just made it on the stretch;Rybakina ran forward to hit the half volley,but went back toward the Blinkova backhand,and missed it wide.

The final score – 6-4,4-6,7-6(22-20) – goes down as the longest tie-breaker in women’s grand slam history. Blinkova,who said she was still getting used to playing on the world’s bigger arenas,credited the electric centre court crowd with propelling her through the marathon decider.

“It helped me so much,it gave me so much energy to fight until the end,” she said. “This day I will remember for the rest of my life,especially on this court with this crowd. I will never forget it,it’s the best day of my life so far.

“My dream came true to play on Rod Laver full of spectators. The energy was crazy,and I enjoyed it a lot.”

Blinkova,25,said she tried to push the negative thoughts out of her head when she found herself unable to convert her opportunities in the tiebreak. “I had so many match points. I tried to be aggressive in these moments,but my hand was shaking ... and my legs too,” she said.

The “endless tie-break”,as Blinkova dubbed it,concluded the second big upset of the day in the women’s draw after American fifth seed Jessica Pegula was bowled out in straight sets by French world No.51 Clara Burel.

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