2021 Match Point Saves

Great Escapes 2021: Winning from match point down

During 2021, 58 WTA main draw matches were won from at least one match point down. The joint record was winning from six match points down (Maria Sakkari, Miami; Jil Teichmann, Madrid; Elise Mertens, US Open). Four players won a tournament after facing match point (Naomi Osaka, Australian Open; Ashleigh Barty, Miami; Iga Swiatek, Rome; Barbora Krejcikova, Roland Garros).

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Sofia Kenin was the first player to pull off the feat in 2021, fighting back from match point down at 3-6, 5-6 to outlast Yulia Putintseva 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the third round of Abu Dhabi.

WTA/Jimmie48

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In the very next match on the Abu Dhabi Centre Court, Elina Svitolina saved two match points in the final-set tiebreak to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(8) and reach the quarterfinals.

WTA/Jimmie48

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Elisabetta Cocciaretto stormed back from a dire first set to beat Zhu Lin in the opening round of the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne 0-6, 6-3, 7-5, saving match point in the third set as Zhu served at 5-4.

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Another Italian-Chinese battle in Melbourne saw Jasmine Paolini upset Wang Qiang in round two of the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, saving two match points en route to overturning a 2-5 second-set deficit.

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Irina-Camelia Begu claimed a wild Gippsland Trophy third-round victory over Johanna Konta 4-6, 7-6(10), 7-6(4), saving two match points in a second set she won on her eighth set point and closing the win out on her own ninth match point.

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Victoria Azarenka saved two match points in a decisive match-tiebreak and beat Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 1-6, [11-9] to reach the Grampians Trophy quarterfinals in Melbourne.

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Anett Kontaveit also saved two match points in a match-tiebreak to outlast Maria Sakkari in the Grampians Trophy semifinals 2-6, 6-3, [11-9].

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Serving at 4-5 in the second set, Donna Vekic fended off a match point against Kaia Kanepi and went on to take their Australian Open third-round clash 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-4 - a win that meant the Croat has reached the second week of every major.

Tennis Australia/Mark Peterson

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The first round of the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne saw Anna Blinkova save two match points serving down 4-5 in the second set before posting her first win of 2021 over Andrea Petkovic 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Tennis Australia/Jonathan Di Maggio

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Sara Sorribes Tormo overturned a 3-5 final-set deficit in the first round of the Phillip Island Trophy to beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-7(6), 6-1, 7-6(4), staring down two match points serving at 4-5.

Tennis Australia/Reg Ryan

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Naomi Osaka erased two match points at 5-3 in the final set before rallying to take the final four games in a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Garbiñe Muguruza in the Australian Open fourth round.

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Making her WTA debut as a lucky loser in the second round of the Phillip Island Trophy, World No.566 Gabriella Da Silva Fick saved two match points trailing 4-5 in the decider before stunning Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6).

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Marie Bouzkova saved two match points serving at 4-5 in the final set before defeating Bianca Andreescu 6-7(9), 6-2, 7-5 in the Phillip Island Trophy semifinals.

Tennis Australia/Luke Hemer

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The Adelaide quarterfinals saw Jil Teichmann fail to take five match points against Anastasija Sevastova in the second set, but face down two at 4-5 in the third before winning 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-5.

Tennis Australia/James Elsby

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A rollercoaster second round in Lyon saw Camila Giorgi eventually overcome Nina Stojanovic 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(5). In the third set Giorgi trailed 0-2, then led 5-3, then saved two match points serving down 5-6.

Alexandre Hergott/Open 6ème Sens - Métropole de Lyon

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After letting a 5-1 third-set lead and four match points slip away, Coco Gauff had to stave off two match points in a decisive tiebreak before gritting out a 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(8) win over Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Dubai first round.

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Astra Sharma beat Harriet Dart 6-3, 6-2 in the final round of Guadalajara qualifying and, when the Briton made the main draw as a lucky loser, saved one match point at 4-5 in the decider to win their first-round reprise 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(2).

Imagen Shop/Abierto Zapopan

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Elise Mertens trailed Jessica Pegula 5-7, 2-5 after two hours of play in the Dubai quarterfinals - but came back to take the last 11 games, saving three match points at 4-5, for a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 triumph.

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World No.241 Anastasia Gasanova faced down three match points in the second-set tiebreak against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her first WTA quarterfinal 1-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(4) in an all-Russian second-round derby in St. Petersburg.

Jimmie48/WTA

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Sara Sorribes Tormo became the first player to win from match point down twice in 2021 when she came from 1-5 down in the third set, saving two match points at 3-5 and 4-5, to beat Bernarda Pera 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in the first round of Miami.

Miami Open/Peter Staples

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Playing outside Australia for the first time in 13 months, Ashleigh Barty trailed World No.149 Kristina Kucova 2-5 in the third set in round two of Miami - but fired a return winner to save one match point at 4-5, and came through 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

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Aryna Sabalenka trailed Tsvetana Pironkova 0-6, 1-3 in round two of Miami, but saved two match points in an epic third-set tiebreak and won 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(9) on her fourth.

Miami Open/Peter Staples

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The second round of Miami saw Nina Stojanovic squander a 5-2 lead and four set points in the first set against Yulia Putintseva, but come from 2-5 down and save two match points at 4-5 in the second to win 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

Miami Open/Peter Staples

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Maria Sakkari saved six match points against Jessica Pegula in the fourth round of Miami, five at 4-5 in the decider and one in the tiebreak, to win 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(6). Sakkari struck clean winners on five of those.

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In round one of Charleston 2, Nao Hibino lost a 7-5, 5-1 lead and two match points at 5-4 against Misaki Doi, but saved five down 2-5 in the third and progressed 7-5, 5-7, 6-6 ret., when Doi retired due to muscle cramps.

MUSC Health Women's Open/Chris Smith

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For the second time in 2021, Elina Svitolina defeated Petra Kvitova from a set down, saving two match points at 2-5 and 4-5 in the second set before winning their Stuttgart quarterfinal 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-2.

Jimmie48/WTA

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Jil Teichmann came from 0-2 down in the second set and 1-5 down in the third, saving six match points (four at 2-5 and two at 5-6), before upsetting Elina Svitolina 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in round one of Madrid.

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Iga Swiatek won from match point down for the first time in a WTA main draw in round three of Rome, saving two down 5-6 in set two before beating Barbora Krejcikova 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 - and going on to win the title.

Jimmie48/WTA

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Karolina Pliskova staved off three match points at 4-5 in the third set before outlasting Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(1) in the Rome quarterfinals, winning the final seven points of the match and going on to reach the final.

WTA/Jimmie48

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In a rollercoaster first round in Strasbourg, Shelby Rogers missed a match point in the second-set tiebreak against Christina McHale, but saved one down 4-5 in the decider and won 7-5, 6-7(6), 7-5.

Internationaux de Strasbourg/C'est qui Maurice?/Michel Grasso

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On the opening day of Roland Garros, Petra Kvitova saved a match point at 5-6 in the second set before overcoming qualifier Greet Minnen 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-1.

WTA/Jimmie48

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Rebecca Peterson also triumphed in the Roland Garros first round, saving three match points in the second-set tiebreak before defeating Shelby Rogers, 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 6-2.

WTA/Jimmie48

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Anett Kontaveit trailed Viktorija Golubic by a set and 3-5 in the first round of Roland Garros, saved a match point serving down 5-6 - then did not lose another game to win 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-0, her second victory of 2021 after facing match point.

Jimmie48/WTA

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Katerina Siniakova won the first set from 2-5 down, lost the second from 3-0 up and won the third from 1-5 down, saving two match points at 1-5 and 3-5, to beat Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(7), 5-7, 7-5 in round two of Roland Garros.

Jimmie48/WTA

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An electric third-round clash at Roland Garros saw Paula Badosa save one match point down 5-6 in the second set en route to defeating Ana Bogdan 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

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Barbora Krejcikova saved one match point with a backhand swing volley winner down 4-5 in the third set before overcoming Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 in the longest Roland Garros semifinal of the Open Era.

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In the first round of Nottingham, lucky loser Marina Melnikova, 32, saved triple match point in the deciding tiebreak to beat Katie Volynets 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6) - the Russian's second career WTA main draw win and first since Stuttgart 2015.

Formula TX

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The first round of Birmingham saw Anastasia Potapova fend off one match point in the second-set tiebreak to beat Nina Stojanovic, who was fresh off the Nottingham semifinals and who served for the win at 5-4 in set two, 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4.

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Alizé Cornet saved one match point serving at 4-5 in the third set against Garbiñe Muguruza in the Berlin quarterfinals, ultimately taking her own fifth match point to win 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) and reach her first grass-court semifinal.

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Victoria Azarenka saved four match points in the third set against Alizé Cornet in round two of Bad Homburg - two as Cornet served for the match at 6-5 and two in the deciding tiebreak - before winning 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7).

Sportfoto Zimmer/Maurer

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A late quarterfinal that stretched into the evening at Eastbourne saw Elena Rybakina save two match points in the second-set tiebreak en route to a 2-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(5) victory over Anastasija Sevastova.

Jimmie48/WTA

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A No.1 Court evening thriller on the first day of Wimbledon saw lucky loser Kristie Ahn save one match point as Heather Watson served for victory at 5-4 in the third set, before sealing her first Wimbledon win 2-6, 7-6(3), 8-6 over the home favourite.

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Madison Brengle defeated Christina McHale 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 in round one of Wimbledon, despite McHale serving for the match at 5-4 in set two, 5-4 in set three (where Brengle saved four match points) and 8-7 in set three.

Jimmie48/WTA

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Ivana Jorovic saved one match point at 4-5 in the second set before beating Jaqueline Cristian 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(3) in a first-round Budapest marathon - the Serb's first WTA win in the fifth event of her comeback from elbow surgery.

Trenka Attila/Hungarian Grand Prix

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Down 2-5 in the third set in the first round of Lausanne, Jasmine Paolini saved two match points before coming back to beat Valentini Grammatikopoulou 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 - the Italian's second win from match point down in 2021.

Ladies Open Lausanne/Mathias Schulz

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An all-Czech second-round derby on home soil in Prague saw Katerina Siniakova win from match point down for the second time in 2021, saving one at 5-6 in set two before beating Tereza Smitkova 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.

Livesport Prague Open

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Tamara Korpatsch trailed Olga Govortsova 1-6, 2-5 in the first round of Gdynia - but stormed back to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in two hours and 59 minutes, saving two match points serving at 4-5 in set two.

Andrzej Szkocki

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Kristina Kucova saved three match points at 5-6 in the second set and a fourth in the second-set tiebreak, prevailing over Ekaterine Gorgodze, 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 7-6(3) in a nearly 4-hour battle in the Gdynia quarterfinals.

Andrzej Szkocki

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Ajla Tomljanovic trailed Amanda Anisimova in the first round of San Jose 1-6, 3-5, but saved a match point at 4-5 in the second set and another down 3-5 in the third to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Larry Hinh/Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic

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Paula Badosa trailed Petra Martic 3-5 in the third set in the first round of Cincinnati, but saved five match points - three to break back at 4-5 and two in the ensuing tiebreak - to win 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) on her own fifth match point.

Jimmie48/WTA

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Elise Mertens saved a total of six match points to beat Rebecca Peterson 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in round one of the US Open: three at 3-5 and two at 5-6 in the second set, and one at 5-6 in the third. Mertens won on her first match point.

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Rebeka Masarova's Grand Slam debut saw the Spaniard miss her first five match points against Ana Bogdan, but save two in the deciding tiebreak and win the joint-longest US Open women's match ever 6-7(9), 7-6(2), 7-6(9) on her sixth.

Manuela Davies/USTA

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In a late-night US Open second-round thriller on Arthur Ashe, Karolina Pliskova came from 2-5 down in the deciding tiebreak, saving one match point at 6-7, to beat Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(7).

Garrett Ellwood/USTA

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Yulia Putintseva trailed Zhang Shuai 2-5 in set two in the first round of Ostrava, but saved one match point at 3-5 before pulling out a marathon 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-4 victory which saw her take a 3-2 lead in the pair's head-to-head.

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In a battle of Czech wildcards on home soil in the first round of Ostrava, Tereza Martincova came from 0-5 down in the deciding tiebreak and saved one match point at 5-6 before defeating Katerina Siniakova 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(7).

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Qualifier Anastasia Gasanova trailed Jil Teichmann 3-5 in the third set of their first-round Transylvania Open tie, but saved two match points at 4-5 and sealed her third Top 50 win of the year, and second from match point down, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.

Transylvania Open

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On home soil in the first round of the Transylvania Open, Jaqueline Cristian saved two match points in the second-set tiebreak to beat Kaja Juvan 3-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(3), having trailed by a set and 3-5.

Transylvania Open

58 /58
Clara Tauson battled into her third final of the year by saving five match points in a second-set tiebreak (including four straight from 2-6 down) before ousting Liudmila Samsonova, 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-4 in the Courmayeur Ladies Open semifinals.

Francesco Peluso/Courmayeur Ladies Open

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