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          ICYMI at Australian Open: Simona Halep's heart-pounding win propels her into final

          • Niall Seewang
          Jan 25, 2018, 07:00 AM

          MELBOURNE, Australia -- For 2 hours, 20 minutes under a hot Melbourne sun, world No. 1 Simona Halep and 16th-ranked Angelique Kerber put on a clinic of power, precision, grit and willpower.

          Halep ultimately won the match 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 to reach the Australian Open final. It was the longest women's Aussie Open semifinal in terms of total games played in the Open era.

          Both players saved match points before Halep finally prevailed on her fourth.

          "Well, definitely was very tough. I'm shaking now -- I'm really emotional,'' Halep said after the match. "I'm really glad that I could resist. Today I was like a roller coaster -- up and down -- [but] I had confidence in myself.''

          As the match reached its crazy climax, social media went bonkers.

          Halep has worked hard. She's played the most games by a women's No. 1 seed entering a Grand Slam final in the Open era.

          For her reward, she gets world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki. It will be the first Open era final between the top-two seeds who are both seeking their first major title.

          For her part, an exhausted Kerber, said she was proud of her performance.

          Q: After almost four weeks of continual play, did you really begin to feel it in your legs towards the end?

          Kerber: Yeah. Yeah, I was feeling my legs, of course, already in the first set, but, you know, I think at the end I was just trying to give everything what I have left today.

          I was fighting until the last point, and I came back after the first set and also when I was, like, 3-5 down in the third set, and I think for me, I was just fighting for every point.

          Wozniacki had some worrying moments of her own during her 6-3, 7-6 (2) win over Elise Mertens.

          Wozniacki admitted some nerves got to her late in the second set.

          "I got really tight at 5-4,'' Wozniacki said afterwards. "I think I was nervous."

          Wozniacki has 27 career titles, the most ever by a player without a major. She was also ranked No. 1 for 67 weeks, also the most ever by someone who is without a Slam trophy.

          Marin Cilic made light work of Kyle Edmund late Thursday evening, advancing to his third Grand Slam final.

          Cilic won 6-2, 7-5 (4), 6-2, and he'll either play defending champ Roger Federer or Hyeon Chung in Sunday's final.

          Cilic, who lost to Federer in last year's Wimbledon final, won his only major title at the 2014 US Open. This is his 12th major appearance since winning that title. Only Marat Safin has more major attempts (14) before snaring his second Slam.

          There was a nice moment Thursday on Rod Laver Arena for former Wimbledon champion and ex-world No. 2 Michael Stich and Czech tennis legend Helena Sukova, a 14-time major champion in doubles and mixed doubles.

          The duo, set to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was honored by other Hall of Famers and tennis legends to celebrate their elevation into such prestigious company.

          Stich and Sukova will be officially inducted on July 21 during Hall of Fame Weekend in Newport, Rhode Island.

          In becoming Hall of Famers, Stich and Sukova join an elite group of just more than 250 individuals hailing from 23 nations who have received the honor, which recognizes their careers as being among the most accomplished and significant in the history of tennis.