Australian Christopher O’Connell has come from two-sets-to-one down to defeat Chilean Cristian Garin in a four-hour, five-set epic on the first ever Sunday start at Australian Open 2024.
In a seesawing battle, the world No.71 outlasted Garin 3-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 7-5 to progress to the second round at Melbourne Park for a third time.
Late on Sunday night, Jason Kubler narrowly missed out on joining O’Connell in the second round, falling to Daniel Elahi Galan in a match tiebreak.
Qualifier Dane Sweeny also exited in five in his Grand Slam main-draw debut, while wildcard Adam Walton found Matteo Arnaldi too strong.
Up a break in the final set, O’Connell had a chance to serve for the match but was unsuccessful as Garin broke back.
Just when the 27-year-old had got the match back on serve, four unforced errors saw O’Connell regain the break.
Despite a late scare from Garin, O’Connell did not relinquish his second opportunity to serve for the match and closed out a hard-fought victory in four hours and 21 minutes.
“I was super confident I was just going to serve it out,” O’Connell said. “I started finding rhythm in my serve, the wind died down – that mucked me up earlier.
“He jagged back a break and then I got a second opportunity to serve it out and I somehow did it, even though I faced a break point.”
O’Connell is set to face either 16th seed Ben Shelton or Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round.
Kubler, Sweeny pipped in five
In a rollicking match at KIA Arena, Kubler fought for almost five hours before succumbing to his Colombian opponent.
In a heartbreaker, Kubler led 4-2 in the fifth set, then rebounded from 7-2 in the final tiebreak to level at 7-7, before Galan powered his way to a 2-6 6-3 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(8) victory.
RESULTS: Day 1 at Australian Open 2024
Earlier on Sunday, Aussie qualifier Dane Sweeny pushed world No.22 Francisco Cerundolo to five sets in his Grand Slam main-draw debut.
“It would have been nice to win, but just that experience was next level. Never had anything like that,” said the 22-year-old after the three-hour, 23-minute battle.
“Definitely things to improve on, but also a lot of positives to take out of that and a lot of confidence to take out of that, for sure.”