The setting for Molik was perfect.

There was a packed green-and-gold crowd on Rod Laver Arena centre court on Australia [Images] Day, a parade of past Australian champions and a rousing rendition of the national anthem.

All this on the day before her 24th birthday.

But standing in her way was world number one Lindsay Davenport [Images], who had not read the script and so ended Australia's celebrations.

Molik put up a tremendous fight, carrying on a proud tradition of "little Aussie battlers" before Davenport finally prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 9-7.

"I enjoyed it. It's Australia Day," said Molik, the first Australian-born woman to reach the quarter-finals since Anne Minter in 1988.

"Everyone was behind me," she said of the crowd, desperate to end the wait for their first home-grown champion since Chris O'Neil in 1978.

"It was a really good battle out there. That's what was so exciting. I enjoy a battle," Molik said.

And fight she did during an epic match lasting two hours and 33 minutes.

Top seed Davenport had appeared on course for a comfortable victory before she faltered at the end of the second set, hitting four straight errors to gift the Australian a service break, the set and a chance to become the first Australian since Wendy Turnbull in 1984 to reach the final four.

The players were given a 10-minute break under the tournament's heat policy as the temperature edged towards 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and it was a different match when they returned.

Davenport lost rhythm on her serve and desperately scrambled to save six break points in the second game. She prevailed and then broke Molik in the seventh game.

The American then served for the match in the 10th game but Molik hit back again, saving one match point and then breaking Davenport's serve with a blistering forehand winner.

Davenport finally grabbed the decisive break in a controversial 15th game when Molik had an apparent ace over-ruled serving for an 8-7 lead.

"The bottom line is I probably had a chance out there to win today," said Molik, who will move from 12th in the world rankings into the top 10 after also winning the Sydney [Images] International and then reaching the quarter-finals here in a 12-match winning streak.

"I guess I can be comforted by the fact that I feel like I'm going to put myself in more positions like today to beat the top five players in the world," she said.

"Today I see it as the one that got away but (I'll) just keep trying, keep persisting," Molik said.

Molik felt several line calls had gone against her, particularly the ace in the 15th game of the decider.

"That particular one I was pretty frustrated about. I was pretty slow to react the next ball. But ... one point doesn't decide a tennis match," she said.

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