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Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina set the record for the longest tiebreak ever played in the history of WTA 1000 finals at the 2023 Miami Open.
Petra Kvitova ended Elena Rybakina's hopes of securing the Sunshine Double with a straight-sets victory in the Miami Open final. The pair stayed strong on serve throughout the first set until Kvitova managed to break Rybakina's serve in the ninth game. However, she was unable to serve out the set as the Kazakh played an exceptional return game to break back and force a tiebreak.
Elena Rybakina started the tiebreak out strong with five aces, however, she was unable to capitalize on any of her five set points. This allowed Kvitova to convert her fifth set point to win the tiebreak 16-14. The former World No. 2 then broke twice in the second set to clinch her ninth WTA 1000 title.
The opening set lasted 67 minutes with the tiebreak taking up 22 minutes of that time. The 30-point tiebreak between Kvitova and Rybakina set the record for the longest tiebreak in the history of WTA 1000 finals.
"She has to lose at some point" - Petra Kvitova on ending Elena Rybakina's tie-break streak
Following the match, Petra Kvitova opened up about ending Elena Rybakina's perfect 7-0 win record in tiebreaks during the 2023 season. She stated that she did not focus on the Kazakh's exceptional record in tiebreaks and instead encouraged herself with the notion that Rybakina would have to lose a tiebreaker at some point.
"I didn't think. I think it was the key that I didn't think. I think [she] didn't lose a tie-break (before). I had it in my mind and I said, 'She has to lose at some point one tie break', so I kept going, kept going, and you know the ball afterwards was like, so fluffy and didn't fly at all," Kvitova said in a post-match interview.
Kvitova acknowledged her initial struggles during the tiebreak, which forced her to play more aggressively to gain the win over the World No. 7.
"So I'm lucky. I had to be a little more aggressive, which I was in the end but during the tiebreak, I struggled a little," she added.
At the age of 33, Petra Kvitova became the oldest Miami Open champion since Serena Williams in 2015. Following her win, the World No. 2 will return to the WTA top 10 for the first time since September 2021.
