Priscilla Hon has vindicated her Australian Open wildcard entry with a stirring run at the cut-throat Sydney International.
The 20-year-old from Brisbane is through to the last 16 after continuing her charge from qualifying with a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) first-round win over German Tatjana Maria.
The straight-sets victory over the world No.71 was Hon's third straight win over a higher-ranked opponent in the Open lead-up event.
Her reward, as well as an important rankings boost from her current standing of No.161, is an inviting second-round meeting with Serbian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, a surprise 6-1 6-4 winner over Russian eighth seed Daria Kasatkina.
If she wins, Hon could face one of her idols, fellow Queenslander Samantha Stosur, for a shock place in the semi-finals.
The draw further opened up for the locals on Tuesday with Ashleigh Barty ousting 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-3 and two-time major winner Garbine Muguruza pulling out with illness.
Muguruza's withdrawal follows those of US Open titleholder Naomi Osaka and Brisbane champion Karolina Pliskova.
But 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens staged a great escape against Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova to avoid the carnage.
Alexandrova served for the match at 5-3 in the second set before the American fourth seed rallied to pull out a 0-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) win.
Stephens next plays Kazakh qualifier Yulia Putintseva, the first-round slayer of Daria Gavrilova, with the winner to meet Kiki Bertens.
Fifth seed Petra Kvitova, the 2015 Sydney champion, also progressed to the last 16 with a 6-1 7-5 win over rising Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
The Czech faces Su-Wei Hseih on Wednesday after the Taiwanese beat American qualifier Danielle Collinis 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
