Local hope Priscilla Hon pulled off the win of her career, powering past fifth seed Yanina Wickmayer 2-6 7-5 6-1 to surge into the final round of Australian Open qualifying.
MORE: Fratangelo through to men's final qualifying round before rain hits
“I don’t know how to feel right now,” said an ecstatic Hon, “I kept telling myself ‘you’re losing’ even though I was up, to keep me focused.
“I’m so happy. Last year I didn’t even play, so getting through this second round is a dream.”
MORE: All the scores from day three qualifying action
The 19-year-old wildcard was pinned behind the baseline in the opening set as Wickmayer, a former world No.12, unleashed off the forehand wing. A 10th winner closed out the comprehensive opener, but the Belgian met stern resistance in the second set.
Hon staved off four early break points with some blistering groundstrokes and an ace before fending off another four at 5-5 and taking the 11th game with a sublime drop shot.
The belief was building and Hon struck a forehand return winner to steal the set, moments before play was suspended.
“I don’t mind rain delays, everyone seems to freak out a bit, but it makes me chilled. It puts everybody into the same boat, no one has an advantage,” she said. “I got myself back in the match and thought I need to go for it.”
Hon certainly went for it. A last-ditch lob chalked up an instant 2-0 lead in the decider, before motoring towards victory.
Last year was blighted by injury for Hon, having broken two ligaments in her ankle just 10 days prior to the Australian Open.
MORE: Full women's qualifying draw
Prevailing past a player of Wickmayer’s stature, who reached the main draw fourth round in 2010 and 2015, assured Hon the hard yards in rehab were worth the grind.
“She’s been so high in the rankings. Obviously she’s been such a good player, with a lot of experience. So getting through that is a real bonus,” she said.
Hon faces the winner of Polina Monova and Irina Falconi in the third and final qualifying round, but isn’t contemplating featuring in the main draw just yet.
“I don’t want to think that far, but it would be an incredible achievement, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova blitzed past second seed Evgeniya Rodina 6-2 6-2 in just an hour of play at Melbourne Park
“I just played my game, I was very aggressive, so I hope I play like that tomorrow,” said the 22-year-old. “It would mean so much to me to qualify because I’ve lost three times in the final round.
“I was very close before, I hope to win finally as the Australia Open is my favourite Grand Slam.”
Tomova will vie for a main draw spot against either Germany’s Antonia Lottner or Russian Anna Blinkova, who were locked at 4-4 in the deciding set before rain ended play.
Elsewhere, 2012 quarterfinalist Sara Errani moved one step closer to the Melbourne Park main draw with a 6-3 6-4 win over China’s Yafan Wang.
The Italian's final hurdle comes against 11th seed Luksika Kumkhum, who dispatched Dalila Jakupovic 6-3 6-4.
With rain playing havoc, American 15th seed Irina Falconi will be hoping for a quick finish on Saturday as she leads Russian Polina Monova 6-2 6-6, while sixth seed Danka Kovinic and American Danielle Collins are locked at 3-3 in the first set.
In matches rescheduled under the roof of Margaret Court Arena on Friday night as showers persisted outside, Russia’s world No.161 Anna Kalinskaya upset American 24th seed Julia Boserup 6-1 6-4 before No.13 seed Barbora Krejikova motored to victory over China's Fangzhou Liu 6-1 6-1.