World number one Lindsay Davenport fought back from a mid-match slump to hold off local hope and 10th seed Alicia Molik 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
Davenport faltered badly at the end of the second and third sets with a string of unforced errors but clung on desperately to ruin Australia Day celebrations for a capacity crowd at Rod Laver Arena centre court.
Molik was playing in her first grand slam quarter-final and had been unbeaten in 12 previous matches this year. She worked hard to force a dramatic deciding set, saving one match point on Davenport's serve before the American finally prevailed.
Davenport, the 2000 champion, grabbed the advantage with a service break in the 15th game of the final set and now plays 19th seed Nathalie Dechy of France for a place in her second Australian Open final.