Svetlana Kuznetsova and
Francesca Schiavone played the longest women's Grand Slam match in history in the 4th round of the 2011 Australian Open, lasting 4 hours and 44 minutes (featuring a 3 hour third set), with the Italian outlasting the Russian
6-4 1-6 16-14. The match was an instant classic: clutch volleys, blazing winners, deft drop shots and cat-and-mouse at the net. Schiavone saved an incredible 6 match points (she was serving second so most breakpoints she faced in the final set were match points) and Kuznetsova saved two before succumbing. The Russian had more winners than errors for the match, with an equal number of winners and errors (44) in the deciding 3rd set, with Schiavone hitting more errors (33) than winners (31).
The momentum swapped back and forth, at one point there were four consecutive breaks of serve. The tennis was excellent throughout most of the third set; and the drama and tension was some of the most intense I have ever seen on a tennis court. Once the historical nature of "Franlana" as the longest women's match in Grand Slam tennis became apparent, there were immediate allusions to the drama of
last year's Best Men's Tennis Match, the Isner-Mahut marathon, since that was the longest men's match ever played. In many ways, Schiavone-Kuznetsova was a more compelling experience.
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