Russian No.4 seed Maria Sharapova says the key to her comeback win over Sabine Lisicki on Monday night at the Australian Open was daring the German to blast her way to victory.
The 2008 champion at Melbourne Park who has also prevailed at Wimbledon and the US Open, Sharapova made an ideal start to the match when she broke Lisicki in her first two service games to lead 3-0.
But within 20 minutes the set was actually in Lisicki's keeping after she finally settled and proceeded to reel off six games in succession as she dictated play and rattled her more-fancied opponent.
Sharapova had to dig deep early in the second set as Lisicki moved in for the quick kill and she would eventually not only take the set but then withstand even greater pressure on her serve in the third before grabbing a gutsy 3-6 6-2 6-3 win.
And according to the 24-year-old, stretching out the rallies as much as possible had a lot to do with her victory as she also had to overcome 47 unforced errors of her own.
"Well, the first three games were good, then it went south for a bit, and then I got it together in the second," a relieved Sharapova said.
"The third was a battle (and) no doubt, she played some really good tennis (so) I think the level was pretty high."
"If you played (to) her strengths, if you give her time, I mean, that's what she really does best: she gets a good strike on the ball and can hit a good winner from, you know, any side of the court."
"But if she can do that for three hours straight, I mean, at the end of the match you end up losing and that's just too good."
"But obviously I was trying to create those opportunities where maybe she had to go for a little bit more and force the errors out of her."
Sharapova is not getting carried away with the fact that five-time champion Serena Williams does not stand in her way of a semi-final berth either after she was dumped by Sharapova's unseeded countrywoman Ekaterina Makarova earlier in the day.
"I thought that Makarova, the few points that I saw, played really solid and well, forced unforced errors from her," she added.
"Yeah, but either way, I mean, it doesn't matter (who I play next)."
"For her to come in and win in straight sets and to play at that level means she's obviously on a pretty big, high note right now confidence-wise, and that's always dangerous."
"You know that you're in a quarter-finals stage of a tournament (and) it's only going to be tough from here."
Lisicki departs Melbourne having taken great confidence from having pushed Sharapova to the brink, lamenting the key serves her opponent came up with at crucial times in the third set.
"I thought it was a very good game (but) unfortunately she made some great serves in the third set when I had break points," Lisicki said.
"Not much I could do there at that moment (as) she served right on the line but I kept fighting till the very last point, and unfortunately it wasn't enough today."
"It was very close the entire match (and) when the match is that close, really every single point counts at that moment."
"I mean, one year ago I was in the quallies here, now I was so close to beating one of the best players in the world."
"So I'm taking lots of positive things out of here (and I want to) keep building on it."