“I’m almost dead,” Halep said with a smile afterward.
Instead, it was Davis who had to walk away a loser, possibly from the best match she’ll ever play. Her brilliance for these four hours didn’t lead to more of the same in 2018. She would go out in the first round of qualifying at Wimbledon and the US Open, spend most of her weeks at small events in places like Tyler, Texas, and Macon, Georgia, and finish the year ranked No. 174.
“If I would have lost it, I would have been very sad,” a re-energized Halep said after a post-match massage. “But now I have energy. I have good thoughts.”
Those good thoughts would take her all the way to the Australian Open final, and a third set against Caroline Wozniacki. Halep wasn’t the winner that day, but it felt like she learned something about herself at that tournament, and from her win over Davis.
Fighting, she seemed to discover, was enough. No, Halep would never be as tall as most of the other top players. She would never win matches easily, or win a major title without a Herculean effort. But with her epic victory over Davis, and another over Angelique Kerber in the semifinals, Halep knew the effort was worth it. Five months later, at the French Open, she proved herself right.