Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came from behind to defeat Canadian rising star Denis Shapovalov as 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic struck another blow for the senior brigade at the Australian Open.
Crowd favourite Tsonga on Wednesday advanced to the third round at Melbourne Park for a 10th time, France’s 2008 finalist defeating Shapovalov 3-6 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.
Karlovic later became the oldest man to reach the round of 32 at the Australian Open in 40 years when he triumphed over Japan’s Yuichi Sugita in the longest match of the tournament so far.
The 211cm Croatian battled his way to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 4-6 12-10 victory in four-and-a-half hours.
Karlovic sent down 53 aces on his way to booking a date with Italian Andreas Seppi.
He will be the oldest man to compete in the third round since Ken Rosewall – then aged 44 – in 1978.
World No.1 Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, continued his quest for a 17th grand slam title, defeating Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in straight sets.
The Spaniard looked untroubled by his recent knee issues as he booked a third-round meeting with Bosnian No.28 seed Damir Dzumhur with a 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory.
Sixth seed Marin Cilic also advanced with a 6-1 7-5 6-2 win over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Tsonga earlier trailed 18-year-old Shapovalov 5-2 in the fifth set before breaking serve twice to claim victory in three hours and 36 minutes on Margaret Court Arena.
He will face Nick Kyrgios in the third round after the top-ranked Australian beat Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-2) on Wednesday night.
Appearing at his first Australian Open and third grand slam, world No.50 Shapovalov looked to be cruising when he claimed the third set from Tsonga in just 26 minutes.
But Tsonga, 14 years Shapovalov’s senior and with almost 600 more career matches to his name, found his serve in the fourth set to send the match to a decider.
Shapovalov continued to unleash outrageous winners but appeared to lose his nerve in the final set.
It was redemption for Tsonga after he was defeated by Shapovalov in straight sets in the second round of last year’s US Open.
“It was an advantage to play him for the second time because I knew he was able to do things, crazy things like he did today,” Tsonga said.
“It’s good to play against those guys. They are, for sure, the present, but also the future of tennis.”
Shapovalov went on to make the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows before his dream run was stopped by Pablo Carreno Busta.
The Spanish 10th seed on Wednesday became the first man through to the third round at Melbourne Park following the mid-match retirement of French opponent Gilles Simon.
