'I'm almost dead': Halep survives four-hour epic
World No.1 Simona Halep has fought off American Lauren Davis in an epic to reach the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday.
The Romanian dropped the first set against the 76th-ranked Davis, tightened up her hitting in the second and escaped a major scare in the third to win 4-6 6-4 15-13 in three hours and 44 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
It could go down not only as the match of the tournament but the match of the year.
Halep failed to serve it out three times -- at 5-4, 6-5 and 8-7 -- before breaking the 24-year-old Davis in the 27th game of the 140-minute final set and holding for the remarkable victory.
"Definitely it was a very tough match. So long," Halep said after equalling the Australian Open women's record for most games in a match.
"I've never played a third set so long so I'm very happy to win it. I'm almost dead!
"It's very nice that we could show good tennis, I hope you guys enjoyed it."
STRONG FORM: Madison Keys through to fourth round
CLOSE CALL: Ballboy narrowly avoids racquet to the face
BOTCHED CALLS: Caroline Wozniacki lashes 'terrible' Australian Open umpire
SMART DECISION: Nick Kyrgios withdraws from Australian Open doubles
Halep conceded she could not feel her dodgy ankle by the end of the match, which she injured in the first round of the tournament.
The first match points for either player came in the 22nd game of the final set, when Davis earned three on Halep's serve but lost them all.
Davis required a medical timeout at 11-all after telling the chair umpire her toenail had fallen off.
Halep, 26, held five break points in the following game but the youngster saved them all in a mighty mental effort.
Both players produced fantastic tennis in much cooler conditions than had hit the tournament on Thursday and Friday.
US Open finalist Madison Keys has sent a message that her 2017 breakthrough form was no fluke, running roughshod over Romanian Ana Bogdan at the Australian Open.
While home hope Ashleigh Barty crashed out and world No.1 Simona Halep endured the fright of her life to scrape through to the fourth round, Keys didn't drop a single service game on Saturday against the 102-ranked Bogdan.
Returning to Melbourne Park after wrist surgery sidelined her from last year's Open, the 17th-seeded American stormed into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-4 victory on Margaret Court Arena.
Back in the locker room after just over an hour on court, Keys booked a fourth-round date with eighth seed Caroline Garcia.
The 24-year-old Frenchwoman was pushed all the way by Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, but ground out a 6-3 5-7 6-2 victory after two hours and five minutes on Hisense Arena.
Sixth seed Karolina Pliscova, another hoping to break through for her first major in Melbourne, inched past compatriot Lucie Safarova in a tight 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 tussle.
Pliskova will confront Barbora Strycova, another countrywoman, in the fourth round after the 20th seed toppled American qualifier Bernarda Pera 6-2 6-2.
