Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, top seed and WTA world No 1, has made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, after defeating US player Lauren Davis in an epic match that saw both players dig deep to compete under the hot Melbourne sun.
At the end of the 3 hour and 45 minutes match, the scoreboard showed 4-6,6-4, 15-13 for the Romanian, who said after the match she had never played as long a match in her career.
“It was definitely a very tough match,” Halep said during her on-court interview. “I’ve never played such a long third set, so I’m very happy I could stay and win it. I’m almost dead, but it was nice to show such good tennis.”
“I don’t know how much I ran,” she admitted in front of the packed audience on Rod Laver arena. “My muscles are gone. I don’t know how my ankle feels because I can’t feel it anymore. It was nice to be on this court, playing this match, and being back in the fourth round. It’s great.”
Halep’s unseeded opponent Lauren Davis is ranked 76 in the world.
Simona Halep continues her quest for the first Grand Slam title of her career and will face in the fourth round the winner of the match between local favourite Ashley Barty and Japan’s Naomi Osaka.