Australian Open 2024 Results: Instant Reactions to Thursday's Winners and Losers
Thursday was one of the most chaotic, memorable days in recent Australian Open history.
Fifteen singles matches, six in the men's draw and eight in the women's draw, went the distance at Melbourne Park.
A handful of upsets occurred within the chaos, and no win was more dramatic than Anna Blinkova's upset of No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina.
Blinkova won a 42-game third-set tiebreak, a new Grand Slam record, to eliminate the 2022 Wimbledon champion.
Another top-five seed fell in the women's draw, as American Jessica Pegula was upset in two sets.
The women's singles upsets occurred hours after top seed Iga Swiatek barely survived a three-set battle with Danielle Collins.
The top-ranked men also struggled on Thursday. No. 8 seed Holger Rune was upset, while Hubert Hurkacz, Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud and Alexander Zverev were all pushed to five sets.
Medvedev's five-set battle with Emil Ruusuvuori did not end until 3:40 a.m. local time. The third-seeded male came back from two sets down to finish off the wild Thursday in Melbourne.
Thursday Results
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Men's Singles
No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz def. Lorenzo Sonego, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
No. 3 Daniil Medvedev def. Emil Russuvuori, 3-6, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0
No. 6 Alexander Zverev def. Lukas Klein, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7)
Arthur Cazaux def. No. 8 Holger Rune, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz def. Jakub Mensik, 6-7 (9), 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3
No. 11 Casper Ruud def. Max Purcell, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7)
No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov def. Thannasi Kokkinakis, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
No. 14 Tommy Paul def. Jack Draper, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 19 Cameron Norrie def. Giulio Zeppieri, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
No. 21 Ugo Humbert def. Zhang Zhizhen, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (3)
Nuno Borges def. No. 23 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-3
Miomir Kecmanovic def. No. 24 Jan-Lennard Struff, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (9)
No. 27 Felix Auger-Aiiassime def. Hugo Grenier, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 28 Tallon Griekspoor def. Arthur Fils, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4
Alex Michelsen def. No. 32 Jiri Lehecka, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Women's Singles
No. 1 Iga Swiatek def. Danielle Collins, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Anna Blinkova def. No. 3 Elena Rybakina, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20)
Clara Burel def. No. 5 Jessica Pegula, 6-4, 6-2
No. 11 Jelena Ostapenko def. Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
No. 12 Zheng Qinwen def. Katie Boulter, 6-3, 6-3
Sloane Stephens def. No. 14 Daria Kasatkina, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 18 Victoria Azarenka def. Clara Tauson, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
No. 19 Elina Svitolina def. Viktoriya Tomova, 6-1, 6-3
No. 27 Emma Navarro def. Elisabetta Cocciaretto, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Anna Blinkova Upsets Elena Rybakina in Record Tiebreaker, Shakes Up Women's Bracket
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Anna Blinkova earned one of the most notable wins of her career with a history-making upset of Elena Rybakina.
Blinkova won the third-set tiebreak by a 22-20 score. The 42-point tiebreak was the longest in Grand Slam history, per ITF Media.
The 25-year-old Blinkova won the match on her ninth match point. She saved six match points that the third-seeded Rybakina had.
Blinkova's win shook up the top half of the women's singles draw, which now appears to be setting up for a Iga Swiatek to cruise to the final.
Swiatek is the lone top-10 seed remaining in that portion of the bracket. Blinkova is one of eight unseeded players alive in that part of the draw.
The top half opened up even more with Pegula's straight-set loss to Clara Burel. The fifth-seeded American did not play well at all and could not recover from a slow start against the unseeded Frenchwoman.
There was some good news for the American contingent on Thursday, though, as Sloane Stephens and Emma Navarro joined three other American women in the third round.
Daniil Medvedev Rallies for Comeback, Holger Rune Upset
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Daniil Medvedev was one of a few top-seeded men who barely escaped Thursday's second-round matches.
Medvedev rallied from two sets down to Emil Russuvuori to remain alive in the event in which he reached the final in 2021 and 2022.
The No. 3 seed could not find his shot in the first two sets, but then he started to turn his play around in the third set against the unseeded Finnish player.
Medvedev joined Hubert Hurkacz, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud as top-12 players who escaped five-set matches on Thursday.
Hurkacz came back from a 2-1 set deficit against Czech teenager Jakub Mensik, Zverev battled through a fifth-set tiebreaker versus qualifier Lukas Klein and Ruud downed Australian Max Purcell in a fifth-set tiebreak.
Holger Rune was not as fortunate as the other top seeds, as he was eliminated by French wild-card entry Arthur Cazaux.
Rune fell in four sets to continue a poor run of form at the hard-court majors. He has never made it past the fourth round in Melbourne and has not advanced past the third round at the U.S. Open.
All of the long matches could mean the top players will be tired on Saturday in third-round action. That will either cause more upsets, or build up some tired legs that Carlos Alcaraz and/or Novak Djokovic can take advantage of later in the tournament.
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