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Simona Halep saves match points in record Australian Open classic

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World No. 1 Simona Halep saved three match points to beat Lauren Davis at the Australian Open in a four-hour contest that tied the record for most games played.
But Halep dug deep to hold. Davis then took a medical timeout due to infected toes and later Halep officially progressed when a forehand down the line from the American went wide.
At three hours, 44 minutes it wasn’t the longest women’s match in time at the Australian Open but it did tie the longest match in games alongside Chanda Rubin’s 1996 victory over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.
“I’m almost dead,” Halep told the crowd in her on-court interview at Rod Laver Arena.
And in her briefing with reporters, Halep admitted she thought she was on her way home when staring at those match points.
“Honestly, I thought it’s over at that moment, but it was good because I relaxed my arm and I served pretty well those three balls,” she said. “And then she took the medical (timeout). I had time to calm down. I had come to believe again, to restart the mind.
Lucky number
“And also I found more energy after that three minutes’ break. But at 13-all when I took the game, I said it’s my lucky number.
“I think in the past I wouldn’t have fought that hard. Maybe when she had the match balls, maybe I would have lost it. But now I improved in that way and it makes me really happy that I change myself in a good way.”
She has often credited her much respected coach, Darren Cahill, for improving all facets of her game.
Thankfully for Halep and all parties involved, the blazing temperatures of the previous two days in Melbourne dipped considerably.
From a high of 40.2 degrees Celsius Friday, Saturday’s high reached just under 25 degrees. That can happen in Melbourne, where the weather is famously unpredictable.
The win maintained Halep’s chances of winning that first major but unlike Wozniacki — who is still seeking a first one, too — her immediate prospects might not be rosy.
Halep — the WTA’s most popular player last season as voted by fans — continues to play on an injured left ankle and leg after taking a tumble in the first round. Spending so much time on court Saturday won’t have helped, despite the momentum garnered by such a marathon win.
“It’s sore,” Halep said of the ankle. “I felt the pain. It’s not recovered. It’s impossible to recover after. After this match I think tomorrow is gonna be worse, but I just push, push myself, and we will see what’s gonna happen.”
And Halep certainly sits in the tougher section of the draw, with Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber or Maria Sharapova — the latter pair tangle in Saturday’s marquee encounter — her possible foes later.
Naomi Osaka is the dual French Open finalist’s next opponent, the Japanese crushing — ‘crushing’ is apt given the pace on her groundstrokes — local hopes by defeating Ashley Barty 6-4 6-2 in a match shifted from Rod Laver Arena to Margaret Court because of the length of Halep’s slugfest.
Davis — one of the shortest elite players on the tour at 5-foor-2 — didn’t appear too downbeat in defeat. Keep in mind that in her lone other confrontation with Halep, she claimed two games.
“There is a lot to take away from that match,” said Davis, whose father Bill is a prominent cardiologist who wrote the foreword to Novak Djokovic’s book, ‘Serve to Win.’ “I played really, really well. Left all that I had out there on the court, and I did all that I could do.”
Zverev’s grand slam struggles
Alexander Zverev followed Halep on centre court and was upset by Hyeon Chung 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3 6-0 to continue his struggles at majors. The German fourth seed has received much hype but at the grand slams he has yet to make a quarterfinal — or beat top-50 opposition.
Three of the 20-year-old’s last five losses at slams have come in five sets.
“I have some figuring out to do, what happens to me in deciding moments in grand slams,” he said. “I’m still young, so I got time. I definitely have some figuring out to do for myself.”
Tennis was also a winner. ‘Tennys’ that is. Tennys Sandgren is the unlikely last American man standing, defeating Zverev’s countryman Maximilian Marterer 5-7 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-5).
Defending men’s champion Roger Federer, six-time winner Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro also play Saturday.
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But it’s hard to imagine their matches topping Halep’s in suspense.

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