Svetlana Kuznetsova had to dig deep to outlast fellow veteran Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 5-7, 9-7 in three hours and 36 minutes. With the win, the world No. 10 successfully advanced to her first fourth round at the Australian Open since 2013.

"I went to a roller coaster last night and it was the same as my match today," Kuznetsova said.

She went on a child-sized adventure at Melbourne’s Luna Park the day before her third-round battle.

Advertising

Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam champion, has taken part in a marathon inside Hisense Arena before, but with a less happy outcome. She's in the history books for longest women's Australian Open match for losing 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 in a four-hour and 44-minute epic to Francesca Schiavone in the 2011 fourth round.

Against Jankovic, the Russian had to rely on 17 long years of experience, without thinking about that disappointing 2011 result.

"It's been a bit insane, but it's a tennis match, anything can happen,” Kuznetsova said. “I was just, in the third set, I felt like Jelena was in total control of the game, but it's never done until you shake the hand.

"So I was trying to fight and stay in there. I was not playing my best, but I fight hard and in the end I won. So I'm pretty happy with that."

Kuznetsova will try to reach her fourth Australian Open quarterfinal on Sunday against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.