France's Alizé Cornet has reached the quarterfinal stage at a major for the first time in 63 attempts after battling stifling hot conditions to beat former Australian Open finalist Simona Halep in three sets.
With the temperature well above 30 degrees Celsius, both players struggled in the heat on Rod Laver Arena, but it was Cornet who came out on top, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 33 minutes.
The 32-year-old will play Danielle Collins for a place in the semifinals.
Cornet buried her face in a towel and broke into tears after converting her third match point.
"It was a battle with Simona today in this heat," the 61st-ranked Cornet said in her on-court interview.
"After 30 minutes of the game we were both dying on the court. We kept going for two and a half hours with all our heart.
"Congrats to Simona because I know she struggled a lot and I admire this player so much. She's such a fighter and an example to me. To beat her today to go to my first quarterfinal is a dream come true.
Former world number one Halep missed Wimbledon and the French Open during an injury-plagued 2021 but looked in peak form at the start of the season as she notched nine wins in a row, including a title in Melbourne in the lead-up to the Australian Open.
The Romanian had conceded only 12 games en route to the fourth round but the two-time major winner looked exhausted as the match progressed, leaning on her racquet between points to catch her breath.
Earlier on Rod Laver Arena, Collins won a battle of attrition to overhaul 19th seed Elise Mertens 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and book her second quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open.
In a gruelling clash of former semi-finalists lasting 2 hours and 51 minutes, the American 27th seed snatched the win with a barrage of power hitting as Mertens served to stay in the match.
Belgian Mertens saved two match points — the second with a gutsy second serve — but then surrendered meekly on the third with a double fault.
Collins is the third American woman to reach the quarterfinals this year, with Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys also advancing to the last eight.
"I think I have my ups and downs during the matches, mentally and physically," Collins said in her on-court interview.
"Elise was really working me to the max. She's one of the best anticipators on tour. So sometimes I was having to win the points five, six, seven times.
"Some of the points were incredible. Some of the balls she was getting back and shots I thought were winners, sometimes they weren't.
"So I had to try to put some pressure on her and come up with some big shots because that's all you can do against someone who is such a good anticipator."
Collins made the Australian Open semifinals in 2019. She was also a French Open quarterfinalist in 2020.
Reuters/ABC
