'Absolutely brutal': Belgian blows nine match points in loss
World No.58 Yanina Wickmayer has had an afternoon to forget in the first round of the Australian Open.
The Belgian looked set to progress when she held three break and match points in the second set against Lucie Safarova.
Instead the Czech No.63 held strong, saving five match points to force a tiebreak.
Wickmayer got back on top in the breaker, however, taking a 6-3 lead and looking good to progress to the second round of a grand slam for the first time since the 2016 French Open.
Safarova (L) saved nine match points against Wickmayer (R). Pic: Getty
But Safarova, fighting Wickmayer's match points and 35-degree temperatures in Melbourne, bounced back again.
To add insult to injury for Wickmayer she eventually lost the tiebreak with a double fault.
Wow Wicky blows 9 match points in 2nd sets to Safarova that is absolutely brutal on the mind
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) January 17, 2017
That killed any confidence she had left as Safarova secured the third set in seven games for a 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-1 victory.
High-profile tennis coach Brad Gilbert said such a performance during a match destroys players.
"That is absolutely brutal on the mind," he wrote on Twitter.
Watch all of Wickmayer's dropped match points, and Safarova's triumph, in the video above.
Watch the summer of tennis live on Seven, the 7Tennis app and PLUS7