Kvitova and Rybakina create history with longest tiebreak in WTA 1000 final history

Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina set the record for the longest tiebreak played in a WTA 1000 final.

Kvitova thwarted Rybakina's chances of achieving the 'Sunshine Double'. The Kazakhstani player had won the Indian Wells title and reached the Miami Open final with 13 straight victories, but it was not enough to beat the 33-year-old Czech, who claimed her 30th title and ninth WTA 1000 title.

Both players knew that the first set was crucial to winning the title, and they went into the tiebreak with the goal of gaining an advantage in the match. They played 30 points, with Kvitova eventually winning 16-14, setting a record for WTA 1000 finals. The outcome of the tiebreak set the tone for the second set, with the former world No. 2 playing much better than her opponent, allowing her to close out the match 7-6(14) and 6-2. Rybakina had a record of 7-0 in tiebreaks during 2023, and Kvitova commented on this:

"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," said after the match.

"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," Kvitova added.