Alize Cornet reached her first ever Grand Slam quarter-final amid emotional scenes on another sweltering day at the Australian Open.
The French star joined Danielle Collins in the last eight.
World No.2 Daniil Medvedev has dropped just his second set in the men’s singles while Joe Salisbury produced a miracle shot in the doubles.
And the Peng Shuai controversy goes on with Martina Navratilova slamming the Australian Open organisers.
Cornet cooks Halep in the heat
The world No.61 reached her first last eight in a Major at her 63rd attempt – and her 60th consecutive Major over 16 years. “It is never too late to try again,” she said.
Cornet survived losing six consecutive games from 3-1 up in the second set to win 6-4 3-6 6-4 as temperatures hit the mid-30s in the Rod Laver Arena.
The 32-year-old, who fell to her knees after claiming her third match point and then cried into her towel, said: “It feels amazing. The battle I had with Simona – after 30 minutes were both dying on the court. We both kept going with all our hearts.
“I think I just stopped thinking after 30 minutes of playing. After 30 minutes, my brain was already overloaded. My vision was not clear, my hands were shaking. I thought on the other side of the court she would be feeling not much better than me.
“That is why you play tennis. So I can share all this emotion with you.”
Cornet will now meet Collins after the No.27 seed knocked out No.19 seed Elise Mertens 4-6 6-4 6-4.
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Martina Navratilova claims “weak” Australian Open organisers acted “cowardly”
Tennis Australia defended security for ordering a fan to remove a T-sheet and banner in support of Peng Shuai. But footage of the incident has sparked fury around the world. Frenchman Nicolas Mahut posted on social media: “What’s going on!?”
And 18-time Grand Slam winner Navratilova told the Tennis Channel: “I find it really, really cowardly. I think they are wrong on this. This is not a political statement, this is a human rights statement.
“Tennis Australia is just really capitulating on this issue … letting the Chinese really dictate what they do at their own Slam. I just find it really weak.”
A said in a statement: “”Under our ticket conditions of entry we don’t allow clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political.”