Australian Open: 4 longest women's singles matches

Australian Open was the last of the four Grand Slams to conduct the Women's Singles competition. The competition was established in 1922, when the playing surface was grass. The tournament was then called 'The Australasian Tennis Championships'.

Ever since 1932, the winner of the Australian Open Women's Singles competition gets to keep a replica of the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy - named to honor the legacy of the late Australian great of the same name, who won the title for a then record five times.

Margaret Court Smith has won the trophy a record 11 times while Serena Williams has lifted the trophy 7 times till date. This Grand Slam is without a doubt Serena's favorite as the American has won here on 4 occasions without dropping a set and won 7 of the 8 finals that she has played.

Exponents of those who support equal pay for women and men professional tennis athletes have been on the rise over the years. With women's matches too stretching beyond 4 hours at times, their viewpoints are well justified.

Playing such long matches at the Australian Open is even more difficult as the players are subject to extreme temperatures which can frequently cross 40 degree Celsius. Sometimes, even a 10-minute break between the 2nd and 3rd set may not be sufficient and this is evident with the likes of great champions like Viktoria Azarenka experiencing the effects of the heat.

Our focus today is on four of the longest women's singles matches at the Australian Open (two of which have crossed the 4 hour mark) :

#4 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Jelena Jankovic, 3rd Round, 2017

Former World Number 1 Jelena Jankovic was up against the 8th seed and 2-time Grand Slam champion, Svetlana Kuznestova in the 3rd round of the 2017 Australian Open. Having beaten the big-serving German Julia Goerges in the 2rd round in straight sets, Jankovic was confident of pulling off the upset in her encounter with the Russian.

Kuznetsova was a set up and a double break but despite leading by 4-1, she was frustrated by Jankovic, as the Serb showed glimpses of her old self and reeled off won 4 games in a row to take the second set 7-5.

Momentum had turned in Jankovic's favor and the Serb was up 3-0 in the third set with a quick break, but the 31-year-old Russian wasn't done yet. Kuznetsova then broke Jankovic's serve in 2 successive games to claw herself back into the match.

Then, at 5-4, Kuznetsova broke for the third time and was all set to serve for the match, but Jankovic had other ideas as she hit a remarkable forehand winner to break the Russian's serve and leveled the match at 5-5. Then a pivotal break at 7-7 gave Kuznetsova the chance to serve it out and she did exactly that to win the match 6-4, 5-7, 9-7 in 3 hours and 36 minutes.

#3 Simona Halep vs Lauren Davis, 3rd Round, 2018

One of the most compelling women's singles matches in recent times was the 2018 3rd round encounter between world number 1 Simona Halep and world number 76, America's Lauren Davis.

After taking the first set 6-4, Lauren Davis was staring at the prospect of lodging the biggest win of her career and producing the shock of the tournament as Halep looked tired and was occasionally cramping. The court conditions weren't too hospitable either with Davis too suffering from a bloodied toe. But the second set saw Halep draw level after capturing an early break.

The third set was when the drama went to another level. Davis needed two medical time-outs to cater both her feet while Halep kept getting cramps and the look on both their faces signaled exasperation.

The third set itself lasted a massive 2 hours and 22 minutes. Serving for the match at 5-4, Halep couldn't capitalize and then at 11-10, Davis had three match points but the Romanian saved them all and Halep eventually won the set 15-13.

The final score read 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 and the match lasted a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes. The match contained 48 games and equaled the most number of games in a women's singles match in Australian Open history, tying with the match between Chanda Rubin and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario at the 1996 Australian Open. "It made me feel tired all over again," said Rubin, who called the match for Australian Open Radio.

#2 Barbora Strycova vs Regina Kulikova, 1st Round, 2010

The 1st round match at the Australian Open 2010 between Barbora Strycova and Russian qualifier Regina Kulikova was a history making match. Things started to get interesting in the very beginning itself with both the players quickly trading breaks of serve.

That wasn't all, as both women went at saving break point opportunities too. Both Strycova and Kulikova had to save two of them in the first set. The set then went to a tiebreak where Strycova got the crucial mini-break and took it 7-6(7-5).

The second set was an exact repeat of the first set as again both women battled it out for every single point. Although both players weren't serving really great, their tenacity to win and save break point opportunities made this match a classic. The second set tiebreak saw Kulikova grab the initiative with two mini-breaks and took it 10-8.

The third set was somewhat mellowed down as Strycova upped her first serve percentage and didn't provide her opponent with any opportunity to break . A single break of Kulikova's serve was enough as the Czech took the set, and the match, 7-6(7-5), 6-7(8-10), 6-3 in 4 hours and 19 minutes.

#1 Francesca Schiavone vs Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4th Round, 2011

The longest ever Grand Slam women's singles match took place in the 4th round encounter between 23rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and 6th seed, and reigning French Open champion, Francesca Schiavone. Hisense Arena was the place to witness one of the most compelling and nail biting matches of all-time.

With a single break, Schiavone raced ahead to take the opening set 6-4. However, the 30-year-old, started to make a lot of unforced errors on her serve in the second set, handing Kuznetsova the initiative to level the match by giving it way, 6-1.

The third set was when all the drama unfolded. Leading by a score of 8-7 in the deciding set and having 3 match point opportunities at 0-40 on the Schiavone serve, Kuznetsova made a couple of costly unforced errors and the the tenacious Italian held on to level the match.

Then at 10-9 and 11-10, it was Schiavone's turn to serve for the match but both times, it was Kuznetsova who refused to back away and broke the Italian's serve, and after a pulsating 4 hours and 44 minutes, Schiavone finally won the match and both players received an extended standing ovation as they shook hands at the net.

Edited by Mridul Bhasin