MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Her hand and her legs were shaking, she’d missed nine match points but also saved six, and Anna Blinkova was 41 points into a wild tiebreaker that was the longest ever in a women’s Grand Slam event.

Elena Rybakina, last year’s Australian Open runner-up, was just as anxious on the other side of the net.

When Blinkova lunged to retrieve a backhand, aiming just to keep the rally alive, and Rybakina’s next backhand sailed wide, it finished off a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20) second-round victory Thursday that she’ll never, ever forget.

“It took me courage,” she said. “It took me some certain calmness to stay in the present moment and to play point by point no matter what happens.”

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion who was runner-up here last year to Aryna Sabalenka, saved two match points in a third set that contained six service breaks.

Blinkova twice served for the match but couldn’t finish off, and a double-fault in the 12th game sent it to a 10-point tiebreaker. Once there, 13 minutes after her first match points, Blinkova had two more points at 9-7 but again Rybakina saved them, and so it went on.