Emma Navarro tops fellow American Peyton Stearns at the Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia — No. 8 Emma Navarro needed to play the longest WTA match of her career — 3 hours 20 minutes — and rallied from 5-3 down in the third set to beat American Peyton Stearns 6-7 (5), 7 -6 (5), 7-5 in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

A semifinalist at the US Open last year, Navarro was seeded in the top eight at a major for the first time and completed a string of center-court appearances at Grand Slams with his first appearance at Rod Laver Arena.

So how did she feel after being pushed all the way by the magnificent Steans?

“Awesome,” she said, telling the audience that the duration of the match felt like a time warp. “Crazy game today.

“I just kept telling myself to make the most of what I had today. Maybe it wasn’t my best, but she fought really well. Really happy to just get the win.”

Their match was the first All-American women’s major match to go 5-all in all three sets since the 2005 French Open (Amy Frazier defeated Meghann Shaughnessy in the first round 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 ).

“One of the more unique games I’ve played in a while, I think,” Navarro said. “Definitely didn’t have my best stuff today. It was just relying a lot, I think, on my grit and toughness and fight.

“She had a lot of moments there where maybe she could have let it out or run away with it. I just tried to stay really tough.”

It is the longest women’s match in the tournament so far.

In contrast, sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina overcame 16-year-old Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-1 and no. 9 Daria Kasatkina advanced in straight sets.

For Emma Raducanu, winning the first round at the Australian Open was always going to be more important than how she achieved the result.

That was clear on Tuesday as the 2021 US Open champion celebrated his 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) victory over the No. 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova out on Court 3, where a scattering of British flags fluttered in a light breeze on Day 3 at Melbourne Park.

In his first match since November, the 22-year-old British player had 15 double faults, made 30 unforced errors and won just 30% of the points on his second serve. But she was good enough in the big moments with 22 winners and nine aces to break into the second round.

“Honestly, I’m not sure what I changed in my serve today. I think it had a mind of its own,” Raducanu said. “In the first set, I hit a lot of good first serves. I hit a couple of aces. At the same time, I hit a double fault. I pretty much accepted, okay, at least I’m going for it.

“As the balls got heavier, it was a lot harder. As more kept coming, it wasn’t easy to refocus, but I knew that even though I was down, I had good returns.”

Because she didn’t play competitively, the biggest news about her at home was her minor back problems earlier this month and the fact that she refused treatment for ant bites last week – just to be on the safe side about medication that could run her abuse of anti-doping rules.

Alexandrova served for the first set, which featured eight service breaks, but Raducanu broke back immediately.

In the second set, Raducanu led 4-2, but then lost control of her serve again and needed to save a set point before forcing another tiebreaker, which she dominated.

Raducanu raced to a 6-0 lead in the breaker and, with too much of a lead to worry about, held her nerve to claim her first win of 2025.

Since becoming the first player to win a Grand Slam title after qualifying, Raducanu has not gone past the fourth round of a major. She has reached the third round the past three years in Australia.

She will next play against Amanda Anisimova, who won 6-2, 6-3 over Maria Carle.

“I know she’s a great ball striker,” Raducanu said. “I practiced a few times with her. She likes to dictate. So I think it will be a big challenge for me.”

Ninth seed Daria Kasatkina was the first through on Day 3, dropping the first game before winning the next seven straight en route to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Viktoriya Tomova.

ESPN Research, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.