Former Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic has outlasted French 21st seed Benoit Paire in a five-set second-round epic at Melbourne Park.
The 2014 US Open champion took down Paire in a super-tiebreaker, 6-2 6-7 (8-6) 3-6 6-1 7-6 (10-3), in front of a raucous court-three crowd during the three-hour, 33-minute match.
Cilic, the world No.39, will face Spain’s ninth seed Roberto Bautista Agut or American wildcard Michael Mmoh in the third round.
Earlier, Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas progressed after Philipp Kohlschreiber withdrew from their scheduled second-round clash.
The 36-year-old German defeated American Marcos Giron in straight sets in the first round but suffered a muscle strain and was unable to face the No.6 seed and 2019 Melbourne Park semi-finalist.
Tsitsipas will face big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic next.
Seven-time Open champion Novak Djokovic steamrolled Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito 6-1 6-4 6-2 in an hour and 35 minutes.
Argentina’s 14th seed Diego Schwartzman made light work of Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, keeping him on track for a fourth-round clash with Djokovic.
Italian teen Jannik Sinner couldn’t back up his first-round win against Australian qualifer Max Purcell, losing in straight sets to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics.
Argentina’s 22nd seed Guido Pella and American world No.45 Sam Querrey both took four sets to win their respective matches.