Australian Open: Simona Halep survives huge scare to advance

Dubai: Romanian second seed Simona Halep won five consecutive games to come back from the brink to defeat local hope Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in an error-strewn match to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Twice Grand Slam winner Halep came into the match with a 3-0 career record against the 27-year-old Australian, ranked 72nd, but found it difficult to pave a way past Tomljanovic’s all-or-nothing approach in front of a boisterous Melbourne Court Arena.

After sharing the honours in the first two sets, Tomljanovic surged ahead with a break and a 5-2 lead in the decider only for former world No. 1 Halep to stage a stunning comeback by winning the next five games.

The match saw the players commit over 90 unforced errors and the 29-year-old Romanian put an end to the contest by converting her second match point with a forehand winner.