MELBOURNE—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.
.@Simona_Halep Survives 💯
Our 2018 finalist wins five games in a row to overcome Ajla Tomljanovic in two hours and 34 minutes.#AO2021 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/CxO24hoaCa
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 10, 2021
After sharing the honors in the first two sets, Tomljanovic surged ahead with a break and a 5-2 lead in the decider only for f…
Keep on reading: No. 2 seed Halep survives huge scare to advance in Australian Open