Iga Swiatek and Alexander Zverev had to fight their way back from the brink of defeat to reach the third round of the Australian Open yesterday, a day of close shaves and tight matches at Melbourne Park.
Carlos Alcaraz had a less fraught outing but the 20-year-old was certainly tested as he matched his best previous performance at the year's opening Grand Slam by getting past the second round.
Women's top seed Swiatek had earlier shown all the fight of a four-times Grand Slam champion as she rallied from two breaks down in the final set to beat Danielle Collins 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Swiatek knew she was in for a potentially tricky contest on Rod Laver Arena as Collins had beaten her in the Melbourne Park semifinals in 2022.
The 30-year-old American, who said after the match that she would be retiring this season, came out firing after losing the opening set and Swiatek needed her best tennis to overhaul a 4-1 deficit by rattling off the last five games in the third set.
"Oh my god, honestly, I was already at the airport," said Swiatek.
"I didn't feel like I had control over this match [but] I wanted to fight till the end. I'm happy that I was solid and I just believed till the end."
Men's sixth seed Zverev admitted he was fortunate to prevail 7-5 3-6 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(7) over Slovakian world number 163 Lukas Klein.
Rain showers disrupted play on the outer courts for the second successive day but it was the wind and sunshine that Alcaraz felt had threatened the quality of his contest against Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
The Spanish second seed felt both players managed to conquer the challenge as he gave up the second set but ran out a 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3 7-6(3) winner
Women's third seed Elena Rybakina's bid to reach back-to-back Australian Open finals ended in a 6-4 4-6 7-6(20) defeat by Anna Blinkova after a record-breaking tiebreak that lasted over 30 minutes.
Blinkova held her nerve in an epic battle lasting 42 points and dropped to her knees as she clinched a famous win on her 10th match point.
It was the longest tiebreak in a singles match in Grand Slam history.
Women's fifth seed Jessica Pegula was unable to find a way past France's Clare Burel and crashed out 6-4 6-2, while fellow American Sloane Stephens accounted for 14th seed Daria Kasatkina 4-6 6-3 6-3.
