Australian Open: tearful Zhu asks ‘is this real?’ after stunning win over sixth seed Sakkari in Melbourne
- World No 87 had lost all seven of her previous encounters against top-10 players
- Zhu Lin will now face former champion Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round
Sixth seed Maria Sakkari became the latest major casualty at the Australian Open on Friday when she was shocked 7-6, 1-6, 6-4 by an emotional world number 87 Zhu Lin of China.
Zhu, whose 29th birthday will be on women’s singles final day next Saturday, is into the last 16 and a date with former champion Victoria Azarenka.
She had lost all seven of her previous encounters against top-10 players, but you wouldn’t have known it in a late-night encounter on Margaret Court Arena which went past midnight and, fittingly, into Lunar New Year’s eve.
Underdog Zhu celebrated the Year of the Rabbit by taking the first set on a tiebreak.
Though she dropped the second as Sakkari finally woke up, Zhu regrouped to secure the biggest win of her grand slam career and then burst into floods of tears.
“Is this real? Am I in a dream?” she sobbed. “Thank you, my team, and thank you for pushing me every day.
