Photos: Iga Swiatek and the players to win a major from match point down
At Roland Garros in 2024, Iga Swiatek became the 15th player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title after facing match point along the way.
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The 1986 US Open semifinals saw Martina Navratilova save three match points against a 17-year-old Stefanie Graf. The No.1 seed survived 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-6(8) and went on to claim her 15th major.
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No.2 seed Monica Seles saved a match point serving down 5-6 in the third set to Mary Joe Fernandez in the 1991 Australian Open semifinals, winning 6-3, 0-6, 9-7 and then taking her second Grand Slam title.
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Jennifer Capriati came from a set and 0-4 down, saving four match points en route, to defend her Australian Open title in 2002 by defeating Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 in the final.
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Serena Williams is the only player who has won a major from match point down more than once. The first of those was the 2003 Australian Open after saving two en route to beating Kim Clijsters 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals.
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Anastasia Myskina became the first player to win her first major after saving match point, fending off one against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of Roland Garros 2004.
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Serving for a third straight win over Serena Williams at 5-4 in the third set of their 2005 Australian Open semifinal, Maria Sharapova held three match points. Williams saved each, won 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 and went on to her 7th major title.
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In 2005, for the second year running, Svetlana Kuznetsova held match point over the eventual Roland Garros champion in the last 16. This time, Justine Henin would save two to win 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5 on the way to her fourth Grand Slam trophy.
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Venus Williams saved one match point as Lindsay Davenport served for the Wimbledon 2005 title at 6-4, 6-5, turning the match around to snap her own four-year Grand Slam drought 4-6, 7-6(4), 9-7.
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Serving down 4-5 in the third set of her 2009 Wimbledon semifinal against Elena Dementieva, Serena Williams erased one match point, taking the match 6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6 and thence her 11th major title.
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In round three of the 2014 Australian Open, Li Na came from a set and 3-5 down, saving one match point at 5-6, to overcome Lucie Safarova 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 en route to her second Grand Slam trophy.
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Angelique Kerber is the only player ever to win a Grand Slam after facing match point in the first round - a feat she pulled off at the 2016 Australian Open, saving one to beat Misaki Doi 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3 in her opener.
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Caroline Wozniacki came from 1-5 down in the deciding set, staving off two match points, to beat Jana Fett 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the second round of the 2018 Australian Open. The Dane would go on to her first major title.
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The eighth player in the Open Era to win the Australian Open from match point down was Naomi Osaka in 2021, who saved two match points to beat Garbiñe Muguruza 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the fourth round and went on to her fourth major crown.
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The first two Grand Slam events of 2021 were won from match point down, as Barbora Krejcikova staved off one match point to defeat Maria Sakkari 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 in the Roland Garros semifinals en route to her first Grand Slam singles title.
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In the second round of 2024 Roland Garros, reigning World No.1 Iga Swiatek saved a match point before overcoming former World No.1 Naomi Osaka 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5. Swiatek rolled through the rest of her matches and won her third straight French Open title.
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