Tara Moore completes one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history from 6-0, 5-0 down facing match point

Moore, the world No 479, was on the verge of a humiliating thrashing by the French third seed Jessika Ponchet at the ITF World Tour event in Sunderland, losing 6-0, 5-0 and facing a match point at 30-40

Lawrence Ostlere
Wednesday 10 April 2019 02:27 EDT
Comments
Tara Moore is the world No 479
Tara Moore is the world No 479 (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A tennis match is never over so long as there is one more point to play, and on Tuesday Britain’s Tara Moore proved it with one of the most remarkable comebacks in the history of the sport.

Moore, the world No 479, was on the verge of a humiliating thrashing by the French third seed Jessika Ponchet at the ITF World Tour event in Sunderland, losing 6-0, 5-0 and facing a match point at 30-40.

But the 26-year-old not only recovered to win the game, but fought back to win the set in a tight tie-break before clinching the deciding set and the match 0-6, 7-6(7), 6-3.

Moore will face either German Yana Morderger or Romania’s Elena-Teodora Cadar in the second round.

Famous comebacks

Ivan Lendl came back from two sets down to beat John McEnroe to the 1984 French Open title at Roland Garros. Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio pulled off a similar feat against his compatriot Guillermo Coria in the 2004 final.

Jimmy Connors also pulled off a remarkable comeback during the 80s, having been down 6-1, 6-1, 4-1 to Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors at Wimbledon in 1987.

Perhaps more extraordinary still was Jana Novatna’s collapse during the 1995 French Open. At one set all, Novatna stormed clear in the decider and was winning 5-0, 40-0 with three match points when America’s Chanda Rubin achieved the unthinkable. She eventually saved nine match points en route to winning the third set 8-6.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in