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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.
Australian Open 2019 in picturesShow all 67 1 /67Australian Open 2019 in pictures Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Andy Murray refused to go down without a fight against Roberto Bautista Agut.
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One But the Brit dropped the first set after being broken late on.
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Britain's Dan Evans reacts during his victory over Japan's Tatsuma Ito
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Katie Boulter celebrates her victory over Ekaterina Makarova in the Australian Open first round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Ekaterina Makarova is one of the most experienced players on the tour but was beaten by Boulter
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Britain's Heather Watson reacts after her defeat against Petra Martic.
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Watson was distraught at her early exit.
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Maria Sharapova of Russia shakes hands with Harriet Dart of Great Britain after a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Tomas Berdych celebrates his victory over Kyle Edmund
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Tomas Berdych shakes hands with Kyle Edmund after his Australian Open first-round victory
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Rafael Nadal followed his Australian Open victory over James Duckworth by criticising the ATP
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day One Roger Federer celebrates after his victory over Denis Istomin
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Two Venus Williams celebrates her victory against Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Two Alexander Zverev hits a return against Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Two Ivo Karlovic celebrates his victory against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Two Eugenie Bouchard will now face Serena Williams after defeating China's Peng Shuai in the first round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Two World No 1 Simona Halep celebrates her victory against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Three Dan Evans congratulates Roger Federer after their Australian Open second round match
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Three Roger Federer celebrates after beating Dan Evans to reach the third round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Three Katie Boulter suffered defeat against Aryna Sabalenka
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Four Milos Raonic of Canada celebrates defeating Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their second round match
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Four Kei Nishikori hits a return against Croatia's Ivo Karlovic
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Four Kei Nishikori defeated Ivo Karlovic in a five-set thriller.
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Four Simona Halep showcased her fighting spirit to overcome Sofia Kenin
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Four Serena Williams eased past Eugenie Bouchard to reach the third round.
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Four Johanna Konta suffered a three-set defeat against Garbine Muguruza to become the last Briton to be eliminated in the singles
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Four Novak Djokovic celebrates his victory against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Five Maria Sharapova celebrates her victory against Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Five Roger Federer celebrates his victory against Taylor Fritz
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Five Rafael Nadal celebrates his victory against Australia's Alex de Minaur
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Five Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 to progress to the fourth round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Five Amanda Anisimova earned the biggest win of her career to date in beating Arnya Sabalenka
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Five Ashleigh Barty celebrates her victory against Maria Sakkari
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Five Maria Sharapova celebrates her victory against Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Six Djokovic eventually regained his composure to reach the fourth round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Six Novak Djokovic was unhappy with the arena lights being turned on earlier than usual
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Six Kei Nishikori salutes the crowd after defeating Joao Sousa in the third round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Six Elina Svitolina beat Shuai Zhang to reach the fourth round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Six Serena Williams consoles a tearful Dayana Yastremska after their third-round encounter
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Six Naomi Osaka beat Su-Wei Hsieh to reach the Australian Open fourth round
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Seven Ashleigh Barty of Australia shakes hands with Maria Sharapova of Russia
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Seven Rafael Nadal serves vs Tomas Berdych
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Seven Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrates his victory against Switzerland's Roger Federer during their men's singles match on day seven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2019. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Seven Roger Federer waves to the crowd after losing to Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Eight Milos Raonic celebrates defeating Alexander Zverev
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Eight Alexander Zverev reacts during his match vs Milos Raonic
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Eight Elina Svitolina celebrates her victory over Madison Keys
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Eight Svitolina believes her WTA Finals victory has proven she can compete at the top
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Eight Williams' victory sees her installed as favourite to win the Australian Open
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Eight Simona Halep reacts to her fourth-round defeat
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Eight Serena Williams celebrates after defeating world No 1 Simona Halep to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine Rafael Nadal celebrates his quarter-final win over Frances Tiafoe
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine Frances Tiafoe was beaten in straight sets by the Spaniard
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine Stefanos Tsitsipas roars in celebration after beating Roberto Bautista Agut
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine Greek fans in Garden Square celebrate Stefanos Tsitsipas' win
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine Petra Kvitova celebrates winning match point
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine Home favourite Ashleigh Barty was knocked out by Petra Kvitova
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine The emotion showed as Petra Kvitova discussed her quarter-final win over Ashleigh Barty
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day Nine America's Danielle Collins beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 10 Karolina Pliskova reacts after a point against Serena Williams
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 10 Serena Williams during match against Karolina Pliskova
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 10 Kei Nishikori was forced to retire hurt during the second set
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 10 Djokovic benefited from his opponent’s physical problems to secure a place in the semi-finals
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 10
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 10
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 11 Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates match point in her Women's Semi Final match against Karolina Pliskova
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Australian Open 2019 in pictures Day 11 Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning the match against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas
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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.
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