A tormented Anastasia Myskina blew a commanding lead and three second-set match points, then trailed 5-1 in the final set, before triumphing in Wimbledon's third round on Friday.
The Russian ninth seed needed every ounce of her experience to see off Jelena Jankovic 6-0, 5-7, 10-8 in a Court 13 thriller.
The extraordinary match swung first one way then the next.
Serbian Jankovic saved two match-points in the second set before Myskina double-faulted on a third and went into freefall.
She lost eight of the next nine games to trail 5-1 in the third set before pulling herself together and levelling 5-5.
Myskina converted her 33rd break point to lead 9-8 and finally closed out the match on her fifth match point after a 86-minute third set.
Myskina will next play sixth seed Elena Dementieva.
Mauresmo has it easy
France's Amelie Mauresmo, twice a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, is beginning to believe she really can land that elusive first Grand Slam win.
"Overall I think my game is really coming together," said the number three seed who has dropped just 11 games on her way to the last 16 at Wimbledon 2005.
On Friday she brushed aside American Shenay Perry 6-0, 6-2 in less than a hour, mastering the blustery conditions and attacking at the net.
"It gives me a lot of confidence to play the way I play," said the 25-year-old third seed. "I really was able to play with that wind and was able to really control the points even with these conditions," she said.
Mauresmo swept into the Australian Open final in 1999 at the age of 19. That looked like the start of a great career. But she has never quite managed to climb that final pinnacle and capture a grand slam title.
"It was a long time ago that I played that final. It was very different conditions for me. I was just coming in. I was 19, I didn't really know what I was doing," she said with her usual refreshing honesty about her strengths and weaknesses.
Now she has already made history and her confidence is growing by the day.
In September 2004, Mauresmo became the first French player, man or woman, to reach number one in the world rankings.
She clearly feels at home at Wimbledon.
"When my serve is there, it is pretty effective on grass," she said, also singling out her sliced backhand as another vital weapon at Wimbledon.
It is also an enormous relief to be playing away from home. Mauresmo is the first to admit that she finds the pressure intolerable when playing before a devoted home crowd in Paris at the French Open.
Mauresmo is full of sympathy for Tim Henman, who feels the weight of a nation's tennis expectations on his shoulders every time he plays at Wimbledon.
"I am sure he probably feels the same way at the French Open as I do playing here," Mauresmo said.
