Elsa Jacquemot sprung the first major upset of the Australian Open on Sunday in historic fashion, defeating No. 20 seed Marta Kostyuk 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6[7] in the first triple-tiebreak match at the Australian Open in the Open Era.

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The 60th-ranked Frenchwoman came from a set and 5-3 down, saving one match point serving down 6-5 in the second set, and eventually pulled through in 3 hours and 31 minutes — the longest match of the season so far, and just two minutes shy of 2025’s longest match. The result was also Jacquemot’s first career Top 20 win.

“I won it with the heart and with the guts,” Jacquemot told press afterward.

Kostyuk had raced out of the blocks in 2026, notching three Top 10 wins to reach the Brisbane final in the first week of the year. Her pre-season strength training had paid off, she told press, and she had set her sights on a Top 10 finish of her own this season.

But the fluidity and consistency the Ukrainian displayed two weeks ago was lacking against Jacquemot: Kostyuk fired 67 winners, but they were outweighed by 68 unforced errors. Jacquemot, the 2020 Roland Garros junior champion who cracked the Top 100 last year, lured Kostyuk into over-pressing with superb defense, but also sprinkled in moments of well-timed aggression. A pair of ferocious forehand returns denied Kostyuk as she served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, and Jacquemot fended off match point with a service winner.

Serving down 6-5 in the decider, Kostyuk required a medical time-out after rolling her ankle. She was nonetheless able to force a tiebreak, only for her volleys to let her down badly as Jacquemot took a 5-1 lead. Kostyuk managed to level matters at 7-7, but at that point Jacquemot unleashed at the perfect time again, hammering her two biggest forehands of the tiebreak to reach match point of her own. A cagy rally ensued, and ended when Kostyuk netted her drop shot attempt.

The result was Jacquemot’s first match win of 2026, having lost her openers to Ajla Tomljanovic in Brisbane and Magdalena Frech in Hobart. It was also the third time in the past four majors that Kostyuk had lost her first round to a player ranked outside the Top 50, having exited at Roland Garros to Sara Bejlek and at Wimbledon to Veronika Erjavec.

Kostyuk’s loss means that a brand new Australian Open quarterfinalist is guaranteed to come out of her section of the draw. The only two players remaining who have reached any major quarterfinal are No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini and Yulia Putintseva.

The contest was just the fifth triple-tiebreak Grand Slam match in the Open Era, following:

1985 US Open QF, Stefanie Graf d. Pam Shriver 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-6(4)
1991 US Open R3, Gigi Fernandez d. Leila Meskhi 7-6(1), 6-7(3), 7-6(2)
2021 US Open R1, Rebeka Masarova d. Ana Bogdan 6-7(9), 7-6(2), 7-6[9]
2023 Wimbledon R2, Ekaterina Alexandrova d. Madison Brengle 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 7-6[7]

It’s a scoreline that has only been possible at the Australian Open since 2019; prior to that, the US Open was the only major to use a third-set tiebreak instead of playing the set out.

At tour level, Jacquemot’s win was the 13th triple-tiebreak match of this decade so far, but the second of 2026 already following Madison Keys’ 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) defeat of Diana Shnaider in the Brisbane third round.

Putintseva lays down marker for celebration of the year

Jacquemot will next face former No. 20 Yulia Putintseva, who laid down a marker for the best celebration of the tournament — maybe the season — after defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in 2 hours and 53 minutes from a set and a break down. Scheduled on Court 6 adjacent to the rambunctious Courtside Bar, Putintseva’s dynamic with the crowd was a spicy one throughout. But the Kazakhstani had the last laugh, approaching the net with a shimmy of her hips after sealing the win and then delivering a florid bow to the audience — with a theatrical twirl thrown in for good measure.

Another seed to exit was No. 32 Marketa Vondrousova, the former Wimbledon champion, who was forced to withdrew from the tournament due to ongoing shoulder issues. Vondrousova underwent shoulder surgery in 2024 that sidelined her for six months that year.

“I’m really sorry that I had to withdraw from the Australian Open due to ongoing shoulder issues,” the Czech said in a statement. “After everything I’ve been dealing with, I need to prioritize my health, even though this decision wasn’t easy. Thank you all for your understanding and support.”

Lucky loser Taylor Townsend took Vondrousova’s spot in the draw, but fell 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 to fellow American Hailey Baptiste.

Elsewhere, Polina Kudermetova defeated qualifier Guiomar Maristany Zuleta De Reales 6-2, 6-3 to become the first woman representing Uzbekistan to win a Grand Slam main-draw match in 13 years — since Akgul Amanmuradova defeated Mathilde Johansson in the first round of the 2013 Australian Open.

 

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