Bernard Tomic dug deep to secure a gutsy five-set upset win over American 21st seed Sam Querrey on Tuesday to reach the second round at Wimbledon.
Despite blowing a two-set lead, and calling for a doctor midway though the match due to dizziness, Tomic pulled out something special in a 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 2-6 6-3 victory.
The Australian world No.59 will next face American James Blake, who defeated Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-1 6-3 6-2.
Tomic joined Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt in the second round but James Duckworth and Matt Ebden lost on Tuesday to join Marinko Matosevic and Matt Reid as first-round losers.
Tomic’s win helped put him put behind a troubled few months featuring injury worries and the drama surrounding his father and coach.
John Tomic, who is facing an assault charge, was not on-site for the match with his ATP coaching credentials suspended and Wimbledon officials barring him from attending, even as a spectator.
The first two sets were dominated by strong service games, though Tomic did well to fight back from a break down midway through the opening set.
He won two tiebreakers to take a commanding lead but big-serving Querrey secured a crucial break and held on to claim the third set.
Querrey carried the momentum into the fourth set and Tomic looked to be tiring alarmingly.
He called for a doctor after Querrey had gone 4-1 up, complaining of poor vision and dizziness.
Querrey went on to level the match and it looked Tomic was going to fade out of the match.
However the 20-year-old lifted and served strongly early in the deciding set.
The decisive game came when Tomic was 4-3 up, breaking Querrey’s serve with a succession of brilliant winners and then serving out the match with ease in the next game.
Earlier, Stosur blasted her way into the second round with a dominant 6-1 6-3 win over Slovakian teenager Anna Schmiedlova.
The 14th seed declared it one of her better performances on grass as she set up a second-round clash with Russian Olga Puchkova.
“I was really pleased with the way I played,” Stosur said.
“I feel pretty good going into the next round.”
A strong fightback proved in vain for Duckworth in a 6-4 6-2 3-6 4-6 6-1 loss to a fellow qualifier, American Denis Kudla.
Wild card Ebden became the fourth Australian man to lose in the first round when he fell in a 6-2 6-4 6-3 defeat to Japanese 12th seed Kei Nishikori.
Hewitt upset Swiss 11th seed Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday to set up a second round match against German Dustin Brown on Tuesday.