Audio By Carbonatix
Magda Linette reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the age of 30 with a shock defeat of fourth seed Caroline Garcia at the Australian Open.
Poland's Linette, ranked 45th in the world, won 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 against France's Garcia, who became the latest seed to fall in Melbourne.
She had never before progressed past the third round of a major.
"I don't really believe it," said Linette, who will face Karolina Pliskova in the last eight.
"I don't know what happened. I'm speechless, really. I don't know what to say.
"But I don't want to say I didn't expect it, because coming on the court I was confident in how well I'm playing."
Garcia had avoided an upset in the third round in a two-hour battle with Laura Siegemund and opened the first set against Linette with a break to take a 3-0 lead.
But erratic play allowed Linette to fight back, and when Garcia was serving for the first set at 5-4, Linette got the vital break back on her second attempt.
Linette - who made just eight unforced errors in the entire set - took the tie-break with ease before serving out the match after getting the break at 4-4 in the second set.
Elsewhere, fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka reached her first Australian Open quarter-final with a 7-5 6-2 win over Switzerland's Belinda Bencic.
Belarusian Sabalenka is yet to drop a set at Melbourne Park this year while both she and 12th seed Bencic were on seven-match unbeaten runs coming into the fourth round.
Sabalenka, 24, will next play unseeded Donna Vekic in what will also be the Croatian's first quarter-final in Melbourne.
Vekic defeated 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova 6-2 1-6 6-3, while Fruhvirtova's Czech compatriot Pliskovabeat China's Zhang Shuai 6-0 6-4 to set up her last-eight meeting with Linette.
Latest Stories
-
Peru cracks down on illegal gold mining in Amazon reserve with military show of force
3 hours -
NPP polls: Makafui Woanya re-elected as Volta Regional Chairman
3 hours -
NPP polls: List of newly elected NPP regional chairmen
3 hours -
MTN launches Bright Scholars Alumni Network to harness opportunity
3 hours -
Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council demands apology from Akyemansa DCE over chieftaincy interference
4 hours -
Rescuers search for survivors of powerful Indonesia earthquake
4 hours -
Ghana Prisons Service on manhunt for 29-year-old escapee
4 hours -
Researchers warn Ghana’s coastal erosion could worsen
4 hours -
Morocco detains dozens of migrants trying to cross into Ceuta, reports say
4 hours -
AKSA power deal: Dafeamekpor says Ghana must confront its accountability deficit
4 hours -
AKSA power deal: Baffour Awuah says alleged bribery exposes serious failures in Ghana’s systems
5 hours -
Algeria claim first-ever podium finish after penalty shootout win over hosts Morocco
5 hours -
NPP struggled even in traditional strongholds in 2024 – Annoh-Dompreh
6 hours -
NPP must elect strong parliamentary candidates to reclaim Greater Accra seats – Patrick Boamah
6 hours -
Abdul Rahman retains Upper West NPP chairmanship despite Nandom protest
6 hours