The crowd at Rod Laver Arena gets behind underdog Harriet Dart as she mounts an ultimately unsuccessful second-set fightback against Simona Halep.
Simona Halep has reached the third round of the Australian Open after being given a serious fight by British qualifier Harriet Dart in a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Halep, the world number three who is seeded fourth in Melbourne, appeared to be cruising to a straight-sets win over her 173rd-ranked opponent before Dart staged a comeback.Simona Halep def. Harriet Dart 6-2, 6-4Elise Mertens def. Heather Watson 6-3, 6-0Catherine Bellis def. Karolina Muchova 6-4, 6-4
After winning the first set 6-2, Halep jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second, but the crowd at Rod Laver got behind Dart as the underdog rattled off three straight games to force Halep to serve out the match at 5-4. Even in that game, the fighting Dart saw off three match points before Halep eventually capitalised on her fourth opportunity to progress."I like to play under pressure; it's more fun and more excitement," she said.Another former world number one, second-seeded Karolina Pliskova, also continued her strong recent form in advancing to the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Laura Siegemund.
The Czech described her second straight-sets win as an"ugly match for me", but she was good enough to advance to the third round without dropping a set.
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