Impressed world No.1 Simona Halep has likened powerhouse Australian teen Destanee Aiava to the great Serena Williams.
Halep saved two set points and needed medical treatment after rolling her left ankle in Tuesday's Australian Open first-round encounter before overcoming Aiava 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 - the Romanian's first victory at Melbourne Park since 2015.
After dominating the early exchanges and racing to a 5-2 lead in the opening stanza, Aiava began hyper-ventilating.
The resulting medical timeout allowed Halep to regain her composure and take control of the match.
But afterwards she sounded a warning shot about the unlimited potential of the 17-year-old Australian.
She is very talented, she is powerful, and I think she is going to be very good," said Halep, who is coached by Australian Darren Cahill.
"She's a little bit like Serena, she's hitting the ball strong, she's a powerful girl and for sure she will be good in the future.
" ... she played not without thinking, but without emotions.
"She was not afraid of anything.
"I was actually stressed a little bit because two years in a row I lost here in the first round, so I didn't want to do the third one."
Aiava was thrilled by the comparison.
"The fact that she referenced me to Serena gives me a lot of confidence in myself," Aiava said.
"I feel honoured as well, especially coming from her, being the best player in the world right now.
"I'm going to take a lot of confidence out of that match.
"Just being able to push her to 7-6 and being 5-2 up, I feel great about myself, how I played."
It was a far cry from last week at the Kooyong Classic, when Aiava was on the verge of tears after being thrashed by Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, prompting the Australian to claim she needed a break from tennis.
"I really enjoyed it today," she said.
Halep was reasonably confident she would recover from her latest ankle issue in time for Thursday's round-two encounter with Bouchard.
It will be a rematch of their 2014 Wimbledon semi - a match where Halep felt she had the upper edge before again being cruelled by an ankle problem.
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