Australian Open: Second seed Halep survives huge scare to advance

Romanian second seed Simona Halep won five consecutive games to come back from the brink of defeat against local hope Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6 6-4 7-5 in an error-strewn match.

Romania's Simona Halep celebrates after defeating Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship on Wednesday.

Romanian second seed Simona Halep won five consecutive games to come back from the brink of defeat against local hope Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6 6-4 7-5 in an error-strewn match to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Halep came into the match with a 3-0 career record against the 27-year-old Australian, ranked 72nd, but found it difficult to pave a way past Tomljanovic's all-or-nothing approach in front of a boisterous Margaret Court Arena.

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After sharing the honours in the first two sets, Tomljanovic surged ahead with a break and a 5-2 lead in the decider only for former world number one Halep to stage a stunning comeback by winning the next five games.

The match saw the players commit over 90 unforced errors and the 29-year-old Romanian put an end to the contest by converting her second match point with a forehand winner.