Cam Norrie came back from two sets down to become the first Brit to reach the third round.
He has set up a showdown with Casper Ruud after Norwegian No.11 seed needed a fifth set tiebreak to finally see off local favourite Max Purcell
Iga Swiatek and Alex Zverev both admitted they were thinking about heading home before turning around their own long matches.
And the Aussies are looking forward to a grudge match in the evening session.
The fickle Melbourne weather saw more rain and a swirling wind on Day Five and there were two delays in play on the outside courts. Three of the Brits in action today are on Emma Raducanu’s favourite 1573 Arena with the former US Open champion following Norrie and Katie Boulter.
Norrie wins his marathon
The British No.1 was on the brink of going out after losing the first sets in 87 minutes to Italian qualifier and fellow left-hander Giulio Zeppieri. The world No.133 defied his ranking with a string of superb winners.
But the former Wimbledon semi-finalist used his experience to work his way back into the match – helped by rain delays during and after the third set – to win 3-6 6-7 6-2 6-4 6-4 in three hours and 35 minutes.
He made a fifth and final break of the Italian’s serve at 4-4 in the final set and then took his first match point when Zeppieri put a forehand service return into the net.
Norrie repeatedly punched the air in delight to celebrate his third career comeback from two sets down after his Davis Cup debut against Roberto Bautista Agut in 2018 and a first-round win over Diego Schwartzman at the 20202 US Open.
Ruud has won all three of their previous meetings, all on hardcourts.
Ruud awakening
The Norwegian was taken all the way to a match tiebreak by Aussie Max Purcell who played an old-fashioned serve-and-volley style. The world No.45 got to the net 101 times in the 3 hour and 50 minute marathon before losing 6-3 6-7 6-3 3-6 7-6 under the roof of the Margaret Court Arena.
“If he keeps playing like this, I think he will have good chances to have a lot of good results this year.,” said Ruud
“He plays fast. Serve and volley. He brings it back tto the 90s and 80s. There were just a few points in it at the end and luckily it went my way.”
The Norwegian has twice reached the French Open final but has never got beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
Asked about improving his record here, Ruud joked: Maybe they have to put clay on top of the hard court. If they can do overnight, it would be nice.”
Iga stops her airport run
The world No.1 extended her winning run to 18 matches but only after battling back from 1-4 down in the final set against former runner-up here Danielle Collins.
The Pole fought back to in 6-4 3-6 6-4 – and gain revenge for her 2022 semi-final defeat to the American.
Asked how she recovered, Swiatek said: “Oh my God. I don’t even know. Honestly, I was on the airport already. But I wanted to fight to the end. I stopped caring about how she was playing and concentrated on myself. I’m really proud of myself, because it wasn’t easy.”
World No.62 Collins, 30, announced after the defeat that this will be her final season on tour. “I have other things I’d like to accomplish in my life outside of tennis,” she said. “Obviously having kids is a big priority for me.”
The long and short of it for Zverev
The Olympic champion needed four hours and 31 minutes to finally beat Slovakian wildcard Lukas Klein 7-5 3-6 4-6 7-6 7-6.
Asked what he was thinking during the match, the German said: “I was thinking there was a Quantas flight at 11.20 to Dubai tonight and then a flight home.
A lot of the match was in his hands. Now I am in the third round and it is about recovering and being out on court which is what I love to do.”
His press conference did not last so long as he was asked one question about whether he would attend his May court date over an allegation of domestic abuse from his former partner. “Wow,” Zverev said. “That’s a question. I just played four hours, 40 minutes. That’s not the first question I really want to hear, to be honest. I’ve got no idea. It’s in May.”
Tomljanovic and Ostapenko – it is personal
The Aussie and the Latvian will resume their rivalry in the John Cain Arena after 7pm local time (8am GMT).
Former French Open winner Ostapenko leads their head-to-head 2-1 with Tomljanovic’s only win coming at Wimbledon in 2021 when she accused her opponent of not being injured when taking a medical timeout in the final set. “You know she’s lying, right … we all know,” she told the umpire.
The Aussie world No.271 has claimed the unpopular Latvian now has her respect but former Aussie pro Casey Dellacqua said: “Let’s put it this way: I think she’s going to want to win so bad.
“When you’ve had a bit of a disagreement with a player of course it’s the back of your mind.”
