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Melbourne - An ailing Rafa Nadal dug deep into his vast reservoir of grit to stave off American qualifier Tim Smyczek and stagger into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday on a day of great escapes.
Gushing sweat and stooping woozily between points, the sickly Spaniard dragged his cramping body into a fifth set under the lights of Rod Laver Arena, breaking the 112th-ranked American in the 11th game before closing out a 6-2 3-6 6-7(2) 6-3 7-5 win in four gruelling hours and 12 minutes.
Nadal slumped to his knees on the blue hard court having narrowly averted a repeat of his Melbourne Park jinx.
"It was a very tough night for me (and) ... a tough period of seven months without competition," Nadal, who was out of action for several months during the latter half of the 2014 season through injury and illness, said in a courtside interview.
"Today was a little bit humid conditions and I felt very tired after the first set, through the whole match.
"The fantastic crowd helped a lot so many thanks for that."
For much of the match, there was a hush over the terraces, with many in the crowd no doubt spooked by the memories of Nadal's torture in the final last year when he lost to Stan Wawrinka while carrying a back injury.
Nadal's coach and uncle Toni Nadal revealed his nephew had been bitten below the eye by a mosquito in the run up to the match, adding further intrigue to a day of high drama at Melbourne Park.
Centre court was the backdrop for nerve-shredding tests for some of the coolest heads in the business and with the temperature rising above 32 degrees Celsius (90F), Maria Sharapova showed ice in her veins.
She mounted a brilliant counter-attack to fend off fellow Russian Alexandra Panova, a 150th-ranked qualifier playing the match of her life.
Down two breaks of serves at 4-1 in the deciding set, Sharapova clawed back to 5-4 and clobbered a string of forehand winners to save two match-points before marching on to a defiant 6-1 4-6 7-5 victory.
"When other things aren't working, maybe the mental side of things will help you out," the five-times grand slam champion told reporters.
"Until the very end I still try to dictate, I still try to find my way."
Men's second seed Roger Federer was also forced to scrap in the following match on centre court, after being thrown by a phantom pain on the little finger of his racquet hand during his 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-2 win over 48th-ranked Italian Simone Bolelli.
Stunned in the first set by a barrage of clean hitting, the Swiss master growled at a prying television camera as medical staff examined his finger during the change of ends.
However, he gritted his teeth and merely got on with the job, closing out the match with a rush to the net that would have pleased coach and famous serve-volleyer Stefan Edberg.
"It felt like a bee stung me," the 33-year-old said of his troubled finger. "I was like, 'this can't be possible'.
"I'd never had this pain before... Thankfully it wasn't so bad at the end."
Andy Murray's second outing on the Margaret Court Arena was far more serene as the sixth seed trounced Marinko Matosevic 6-1 6-3 6-2 to retreat to the cool of the shade after 102 impressive minutes.
The Scot's win extended his unbeaten record against Australians to 10-0, deflating the crowd's joy slightly after 10 locals had made it past the first round across both the men's and women's draws.
"I think I moved pretty well today ... If you want to win these tournaments, you need to defend well," said Murray, who next faces Portugal's Joao Sousa before a potential showdown with young gun Grigor Dimitrov, who wobbled but won 6-3 6-7(10) 6-3 6-3 against Lukas Lacko.
Canadian sensation Eugenie Bouchard, a semi-finalist on her Melbourne Park debut last year, continued her love affair with the blue hard courts, despatching Kiki Bertens 6-0 6-3 in 54 minutes.
Seventh seed Tomas Berdych also roared forward with a straight sets demolition of Austrian veteran Juergen Melzer.
Third-seeded Simona Halep advanced to the third round of the
Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Australian Jarmila Gajdosova in
a match that finished early Thursday morning.
Halep and Gajdosova didn't start their match on Rod Laver Arena until nearly midnight due to the length of the preceding five-setter in which Rafael Nadal beat American qualifier Tim Smyczek in 4 hours, 12 minutes.
The 23-year-old Halep received help from the Australian when Gajdosova double-faulted on break point in the seventh game of the second set.
Halep, who opened the season by winning the Shenzhen Open in China, was a quarterfinalist at last year's Australian Open, losing to eventual finalist Dominika Cibulkova.
The Romanian will next play American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Collated results from day three of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday:
Men's singles
2nd round
Tomas Berdych (CZE x7) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT) 7-6 (7/0), 6-2, 6-2
Viktor Troicki (SRB) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG x26) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
Marcos Baghdatis (CYR) bt David Goffin (BEL x20) 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
Kevin Anderson (RSA x14) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3)
Andy Murray (GBR x6) bt Marinko Matosevic (AUS) 6-1, 6-3, 6-2
Joao Sousa (POR) bt Martin Klizan (SVK x32) 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 1-0 retired
Richard Gasquet (FRA x24) bt James Duckworth (AUS) 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x10) bt Lukas Lacko (SVK) 6-3, 6-7 (10/12), 6-3, 6-3
Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA x29) 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Sam Groth (AUS) bt Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
Malek Jaziri (TUN) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Lukas Rosul (CZE x28) 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO x23) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Rafael Nadal (ESP x3) bt Tim Smyczek (USA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 7-5
Bernard Tomic (AUS) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x22) 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5)
Women's singles
2nd round
Carina Witthoeft (GER) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-3, 6-0
Peng Shuai (CHN x21) bt Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 6-1, 6-1
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS x10) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA) 6-2, 6-4
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) bt Monica Puig (PUR) 6-2, 7-6 (8/6)
Julia Goerges (GER) bt Klara Koukalova (CZE) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) bt Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 7-5, 6-4
Lucie Hradecka (CZE) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Karolina Pliskova (CZE x22) bt Oceane Dodin (FRA) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
Maria Sharapova (RUS x2) bt Alexandra Panova (RUS) 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) bt Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Sara Errani (ITA x14) bt Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3
Caroline Garcia (FRA) bt Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 6-3, 6-4
Zarina Diyas (KAZ x31) bt Anna Schmiedlova (SVK) 3-6, 6-2, 8-6
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN x7) bt Kiki Bertens (NED) 6-0, 6-3
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (8/6)
Simona Halep (ROU x3) bt Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 6-2, 6-2
