Adnan Abidi/Reuters
MELBOURNE, Australia — Push Simona Halep to the brink, and she summons her best.
Halep, the Australian Open’s top-seeded woman, got all she could handle from the 20-year-old American Sofia Kenin in the second round before taking the last four games to emerge with a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 victory that took two and a half hours Thursday.
“Well, I have no idea how I won this tonight,” said Halep, the reigning French Open champion. “It’s so tough to explain what happened on court.”
A year ago at Melbourne Park, Halep was a point from being eliminated in two matches but came back each time en route to reaching the final.