Zverev, Ruud, Norrie survive five-set thrillers

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Alexander Zverev narrowly avoided consecutive second-round exits at the Australian Open by battling back in a five-set thriller against Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein. On Thursday in Melbourne, the German claimed a 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(10-7) victory after four and a half hours of play in John Cain Arena.

The victory is Zverev's 400th at tour-level and extends his winning streak against qualifiers to 17.

"He played incredible. He was hitting every single ball as hard as he could from both sides," Zverev said of Klein, who is No. 163 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. "I didn't really know what to do a lot of the times. To be honest, he probably deserved to win the match more than me today. But that's how tennis goes sometimes.

"Obviously I'm happy that I'm through, but his ranking is not valid to how he's playing right now."

Klein was the more aggressive player for much of the match, firing 80 winners to his opponent's 49. But after a single break of serve decided each of the first three sets, Zverev rose to the occasion in tie-breaks to close the fourth and fifth. The German battled back from 1/3 in the fourth-set tie-break and made his move late in the final-set tie-break after the first 12 points went to the server.

Zverev made 92 per cent of his first serves in the fourth set as he began to turn the match around, then recovered after letting slip a 3-1 lead in the final set. He managed to blunt Klein's power as the match wore on and was ultimately rewarded for piling the pressure onto his less experienced opponent.

Zverev, who helped lead Germany to United Cup glory earlier this month, will next meet #NextGenATP American Alex Michelsen in the third round. His best AO run came in a semi-final showing in 2020, one of six trips to that stage or beyond at the majors.

Casper survives a nailbiter on Margaret Court 🙌@CasperRuud98 knocks out Purcell 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 3-6 7-6(7).@AustralianOpen | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/u10VsgoS2K

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 18, 2024

Minutes before Zverev wrapped up his victory, Casper Ruud also survived a five-setter against Aussie home favourite Max Purcell. The 11th seed was a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-7) winner in Margaret Court Arena.

Ruud began to take control of the rallies late in the fifth set but could not convert on three break points, the third of which doubled as a match point at 5-4. He never trailed in the tie-break, though Purcell made one final charge by winning four straight points to close to 6/7.

Ruud's triumph levelled the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head at 1-1 after Purcell's three-set victory in Cincinnati last season. The Norwegian also improved to 7-1 against players at their home Grand Slams, with his lone defeat coming against Liam Broady last year at Wimbledon.

Making his fifth AO appearance, Ruud is through to the Melbourne third round for the second time. His best result is a fourth-round showing in 2021, when he was forced to retire after losing two sets against Andrey Rublev.

Prior to the Australian Open, Ruud led Norway to the United Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 singles record. Now 5-0 on the new season, he will bid to extend his perfect record when he meets Cameron Norrie in the third round.

Norrie, the 19th seed, set that matchup with a five-set win of his own that concluded soon after the last ball in Ruud's victory. The Briton stormed back from two sets down to earn a 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 result against Italy's Giulio Zeppieri.

Norrie turned the tide with instant breaks to start sets three and four, then fought off a break point on his own serve early in the fifth before winning the final three games of the match.

Ruud leads Norrie 3-0 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head, though their most recent meeting was in Miami in 2022.