French player Alizé Cornet declared "I'm not gonna stop now" after upsetting Simona Halep in brutal heat at the Australian Open on Monday to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final on her 63rd attempt.
Both Cornet and Halep struggled as the temperatures hit 33 Celsius at the Rod Laver Arena, but it was the 32-year-old Frenchwoman who prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a gruelling 2 hours and 33 minutes.
The breakthrough has been a long time coming for Cornet, who made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open in 2005 but has never survived past the fourth round before.
"After 16 years on the tour, I never give up. Today I realised this goal that was very important to me for a while," said Cornet, who upset world number three Garbine Muguruza in round two.
"After beating a few big names, Muguruza, today Halep, they are all players that I admire a lot. I don't know what happened in the past, and really, honestly, right now I don't care."
Asked what her goals were now after reaching a first quarter-final, Cornet replied: "Going further".
'The sky's the limit!'
"I mean, I'm not gonna stop now.
"I'm still ambitious. I just have to soak it in, you know, take time to appreciate the moment and be proud of what I did today.
"But definitely from tomorrow I will have to think about my next match and how I can go farther in the tournament.
"The sky's the limit. For the first time of my life, I really believe I can go till the end."
Cornet will now play 27th-seeded Danielle Collins for a place in the semis after the American outlasted Elise Mertens 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a near three-hour epic.
Last Australian man loses to Sinner
Italy's 11th seed Jannick Sinner proved too strong for Alex De Minaur to eliminate Australia's last remaining hope in the men's singles on Monday.
Sinner moved into the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-4 win in 2 hours, 35 minutes.
Felix Auger-Aliassime overcame former finalist Marin Cilic in a four-set battle in searing heat to set up a quarter-final showdown with title favourite Daniil Medvedev.
Auger-Aliassime joins Denis Shapovalov in the last eight to make it the first time two Canadian men have reached that stage at the Australian Open.
Title favourite Medvedev was pushed to the limit by Maxime Cressy before reaching the last eight.
It took the tetchy Russian world number two 3 hours 30 minutes to subdue the unseeded American serve-volley specialist Cressy 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5.
