Greek star Maria Sakkari has change into the most recent ladies’s seed to crash out of the Australian Open, struggling a three-set, third-round upset by the hands of China’s Zhu Lin.
World No.87 Zhu fought her option to a troublesome 7-6 (7-3) 1-6 6-4 win to rejoice Chinese New Year in fantastic fashion and arrange a showdown with two-time champion Victoria Azarenka within the final 16.
A rollercoaster encounter took twists and turns to the tip, with Zhu changing a 3rd break level to take a 5-4 lead within the third set earlier than she served out the match after greater than two-and-a-half hours.
“Am I in a dream? Words can’t describe how I feel right now,” Zhu mentioned after the largest win of her profession.
“I want to thank my team and thank you all for pushing me today to become a better player.”
Zhu’s first win over a top-10 opponent took her into the fourth spherical of a grand slam for the primary time.
The 28-year-old’s earlier greatest outcomes had been second-round appearances at Wimbledon (2021) and the US Open (2019).
“I have to believe in myself,” Zhu mentioned.
“I have the ability to be able to play at this high level and I need to just work hard every day.
“Who is aware of what is going on to occur? You by no means know.”
Sixth seed Sakkari had been less than convincing in her previous match, scraping her way through to the third round after being rattled by Russian teenager Diana Shnaider.
Against Zhu, the two-time grand slam semi-finalist wrested momentum during the second set but handed it straight back when she was broken in the first game of the third.
Sakkari blasted 42 winners to Zhu’s 29, but additionally made 52 unforced errors to her opponent’s 38.
