Simona Halep has battled into the Australian Open quarter-finals for a fourth time with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Elise Mertens.
Mertens fought hard to recover early deficits in both sets but Wimbledon champion Halep, the runner-up Down Under two years ago, held firm to record a straight-sets victory.
"It's a great performance by myself to play again a quarter-final. I'm really happy to go through. I got a little bit nervous but I was strong enough to finish the match," Halep said.
Full time coach and part time "look counter."
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How many is @Simona_Halep up to @darren_cahill? At $200 a glance for Bushfire Relief, we support it. 😁#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/A8InctodEF
Estonian Anett Kontaveit reached a grand slam quarter-final for the first time, beating 18-year-old Pole Iga Swiatek 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 7-5.
Kontaveit looked like she might have blown her chance when she lost four games in a row from 5-1 in the deciding set, but the 28th seed held her nerve in the end.
Garbine Muguruza reached her first grand slam quarter-final since the French Open in 2018 with a 6-3 6-3 victory over ninth seed Kiki Bertens.
Muguruza is after her ranking dropped outside the top 30 but her talent has never been in question and the former Wimbledon and Roland Garros winner powered into the last eight.
