Australian Open: Alize Cornet stuns Simona Halep, qualifies for quarterfinal

Alize
Cornet defeated Simona Halep 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to qualify for her maiden Grand Slam
quarterfinal at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday. With this quarterfinal qualification, she
broke a winless streak in fourth-round showings at Grand Slams that dates back
over a decade in the process.

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At
19, Cornet was a point away from the quarterfinals in Melbourne 13 years ago
before eventually losing to Dinara Safina, the first of five fourth-round
appearances she’d made at majors prior to this fortnight in Melbourne.

On
Monday, despite losing a 6-3, 4-1 lead against Halep, at one point losing 16
straight points, Cornet won three of the last four games to wrap up her second
win against a seed in the first four rounds.

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Danielle
Collins in quarterfinals

Only
one of two former Australian Open semifinalists could return to the last eight
in 2022, and in a shade under three hours, Danielle Collins showed enough
mettle to defeat Elise Mertens and secure a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 fourth-round victory.

In
sweltering conditions inside Rod Laver Arena, it was Collins’ aggression and
boldness in crucial moments that helped her overcome both Mertens and her own
physical struggles. After losing six of seven games to lose the first set from
3-0 up, Collins broke Mertens’ serve six further times across the second and
third sets. 

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Three
of her 45 winners in the match helped earn Collins the love break that sent the
match to a decider, and a backhand winner on the penultimate point set her up
for the 2 hours and 51 minutes victory.

Collins
has played 12 events in her career in Australia and reached the quarterfinals
or better seven times. She’s done so the hard way at Melbourne Park this year,
coming from a set down in each of her last two matches to join compatriots
Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula in the last eight.

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Collins
will now face Cornet in the quarterfinals.