'What a moment': Tennis world erupts over Aussie's epic upset win

Australia's Priscilla Hon is the talk of the tennis world after a stunning upset of two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at the Adelaide International on Monday night.

Hon rebounded after dropping the first set in a tiebreak to prevail 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2 in what was the biggest win of her career to date.

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The 23-year-old - ranked 263rd in the world - turned the form books upside down against an opponent a staggering 246 places above her in the pecking order of women's tennis.

A nasty hip injury has seen Hon slide down the rankings after a career-high of 118 in the world.

However, the Aussie's injury troubles looked to be a thing of the past as she showed incredible movement and court coverage to force Kvitova into a litany of errors.

In what was her first win over a top-20 player, Hon converted four of her six break point chances, hitting 32 unforced errors compared to the Czech's 55.

Hon's defensive prowess was typified by an extraordinary 27-shot exchange in the second set that was described as "the point of 2022 so far".

Fellow Aussie Daria Saville - who plays World No.9 Iga Swiatek in Adelaide on Tuesday - was among those left stunned by Hon's incredible display.

“Yes!!!! this was epic! I was screaming !!!” Saville replied to a tweet about the amazing rally.

Hon was joined in the second round of the Adelaide International by fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic, who scored a relieving straight-sets win over Britain's Heather Watson.

Fresh off her finest season yet, Tomljanovic recovered from a service break down in the opening set then overcame the disappointment of failing to serve out the match in the second to finally secure a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win on Monday night.

"I always put a little more pressure on myself to win the first match of the year for some reason and I always tell myself there's no reason for that," Tomljanovic said.

"It's hard to ignore the butterflies.

"But I take it in a good way. It means I'm excited and it means a lot and I'm just happy that I'm on the board."

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The fighting victory edged the Aussie No.2 to within a win of a potential quarter-final showdown with World No.1 Ash Barty on Thursday.

After enjoying a first-round bye as top seed, Barty opens her year - and title defence - on Wednesday night against either American teenage prodigy Coco Gauff or Norwegian qualifier Ulrikke Eikeri.

Tomljanovic, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist last year, next plays either 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin or Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti.

Also on Monday, Saville clinched a spot in the main draw with a 7-5 3-6 6-4 defeat of Briton Katie Boulter.

Married last month to doubles star Luke Saville, the former top-20 talent barely played in 2019 and 2020 as she battled various issues with her feet and Achilles tendon.

Surgery followed her Australian Open second-round exit to Barty last February and it's so far so good for the energetic 27-year-old.

A Billie Jean King Cup win over Belgium's Greet Minnen in November was enough to catch the eye of officials awarding Australian Open wildcards.

And Saville validated that show of faith in her first appearance of 2022, beating American Caty McNally and then Boulter in successive days to join the 32-strong field in Adelaide headed by Barty.

Fellow Australian Maddison Inglis also booked her place in the main draw with a 6-1 6-4 win over Spain's Irene Burillo Escorihuela.

with AAP

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