Teenage giant-killer Storm Sanders has pushed second seed Kirsten Flipkens to the brink in an epic second-round clash at the Hobart International.
A day after making her WTA debut by ousting China's Peng Shuai, ranked 195 places ahead of her, the 19-year-old Australian gave the world No.19 an almighty scare but edged home 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5).
Sanders belied her humble ranking of No.234 again when she snatched the first set from the Belgian.
The West Australian then forced Flipkens to a tiebreaker after the 2013 Wimbledon semi-finalist had twice served for the second set.
It stayed tough for Flipkens, who needed medical treatment when she rolled her left ankle leading 4-2 in the third.
Sanders saved four match points with some scintillating shotmaking before taking the match to another tiebreaker after more than two-and-a-half hours on court.
It took Flipkens two more match points to finally claim victory.
It's been something like the perfect storm this week for Sanders, who also received a wildcard entry into the Australian Open.
Her unusual first name, which comes from a character in a series of Wilbur Smith novels, has begun attracting fans.
NRL club the Melbourne Storm tweeted its congratulations: "Winner by name, winner by nature!"
The former roommate of Ashleigh Barty's was ranked No.721 just over 12 months ago but looks likely to be eying the top 100 in 2014.
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