Nobody has a grasp of Grand Slam five-set matches quite like Stan Wawrinka.
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Playing inspired tennis reminiscent of the form that earned him three Grand Slam titles, the Swiss wildcard on Thursday became the first player aged 40 or over to reach the third round at a major since Ken Rosewall at the 1978 Australian Open. Wawrinka, 40, broke the 48-year drought with a nail-biting 4-6 6-3 3-6 7-5 7-6 [10-3] win over 21-year-old French qualifier Arthur Gea.
Roaring in delight after triumphing in front of Kia Arena’s electrified crowd in a marathon four hours and 33 minutes, the AO 2014 champion extended his own record of having competed in 50 five-set matches at Grand Slam level and tied Ivan Lendl with a staggering 58 five-set matches at ATP Tour-level, the most in the Open Era.
Competing in his 20th AO, the former world No.3 struck 63 winners, 13 of which were his recognisable, breathtaking backhand groundstrokes, en route to securing a coveted berth in the round of 32 at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2020.