Agnieszka Radwanska’s shock loss to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni gave the match between 28th seed Alize Cornet and Greece’s world No. 94 Maria Sakkari extra impetus, with the departure of the third seed opening up that portion of the draw. Greece’s unseeded No. 94 needed two hours and 40 minutes on Thursday to upset Cornet, the board’s number 28 player, with 2-1 set (7-5, 4-6, 6-1) in a tough contest on Court 7 in Melbourne.

The 21-year-old Greek tennis champion has made it to the third round of the Australian Open and, for the first time in her career, will have a place among the fierce 32.

Moments after her triumph the Hellenic national anthem could be heard across the court while Sakkari signed autographs and took photos with her Greek fans.

Sakkari will now face Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the third round of the women’s singles tournament.

This is the first time since Lena Daniilidou’s win in the 2004 US Open that a Greek tennis player has made it to the third round of a Grand Slam.