Cornet battles past Halep to reach last 8

Alize Cornet reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at her 63rd attempt, defeating Simona Halep 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a titanic battle on Rod Laver Arena that lasted 2 hours and 33 minutes.

The resurgent Romanian had stormed into the last 16 without dropping a set, but ran into a player who has developed into something of her nemesis.

Halep was just one point away from trailing 6-4 4-1, but surged back into the contest, earning a break point which would have given her a 4-2 lead in the final set.

But she did not convert it. And Cornet recalibrated, grinding her way to a fourth victory in five career meetings with the Roland Garros and Wimbledon champion.

Definitely it’s been a tough battle, and actually she was a little bit stronger than me in the end. All the credit to her for this victory,

said Halep afterwards.

I think I played well. Just missed some opportunities, some chances, but I’m really happy with the way I fought today. So this is important. I have only nice words about her, because I like her on court, how she’s fighting. She deserves what is happening to her now. She work hard all the time, and, yeah, I wish her good luck. I really want her to make this dream coming true. Yeah, I will support her.

Full story here.

Photo: @jimmie48photography