Australian Open: Nishikori survives Karlovic scar in epic battle, enters third round

The world number nine tennis player Kei Nishikori on Thursday edged past Ivo Karlovic of Croatia to advance into the third round of the men's singles event in the ongoing Australian open.

The 29-year-old moved past his Croatian opponent 6-3, 7-6(6), 5-7, 5-7, 7-6(7) in a grueling second-round battle that lasted for nearly four hours.

Winning the first two sets, the Japanese player remained unbroken for two and a half sets before Karlovic hit back to clinch the next two sets.

The match, which initially looked titled in Nishikori's favour, went till the final set.

Coming back strongly after two back to back defeats in the previous sets, Nishikori won 76 per cent of the points in the final set.

The decider went into 10-point Match Tie-break. The Croatian player had an edge in the round with a 7-6 lead. But Nishikori clinched final four points to win the match.

After the match, Nishikori admitted that the match was tough and could have gone both the ways.

"I don't know what to say. It was a really tough match. It could have gone both ways. I focused well the last couple points. Really happy to win today," ATP quoted Nishikori, as saying.

In other men's singles event matches, Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka bowed out of the Australian Open after being defeated by Canada's Milos Raonic 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-7 in their second-round clash.

Later, world number one Novak Djokovic will square off with Wilfried Tsonga of France to advance further in the competition.