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Sixth seed Alexander Zverev was forced to dig deep to avoid a potential first round exit by qualifier Lukas Klein.
Victory ensured that Zverev progressed to the third round of the 2024 Australian Open.
The Olympic champion was made to work for four hours and 30 minutes before securing a 7-5 3-6 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-7) over Klein.
Twenty five year old Klein was featuring in his second match in a Grand Slam main draw.
His performance was so good his opponent could not help but admit that Klein “probably deserved to win more”.
Defeat in Mebourne would have been the second successive second round exit for the German.
Zverev will play American world number 91 Alex Michelsen in the next round.
Eleventh seed Casper Ruud was also made to work for his third round ticket by Max Purcell.
The Norwegian won 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 3-6 7-6 (10-7) in three hours and 50 minutes.
Ruud will now face Cameron Norrie, after the British number one won a five-set contest on Thursday against Giulio Zeppieri.
“It was an incredible match and it could have gone both ways” Ruud said.
“Max has taken his tennis to a new level and I wish him the best of success in the year to come.”
“He plays fast and is one of the most unorthodox players these days. It’s tough. He made it hard and luckily in the end it went in my favour.”
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Ghananewshome
