Veteran Australian John Millman has booked a show-stopping Australian Open second-round clash with two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev after cashing in on his wildcard with a five-set marathon victory.
The 33-year-old twice trailed Switzerland's Marc-Andrea Huesler by a set but fought back before kicking away for a 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 6-3 win, prevailing in four hours and six minutes.
It sets up a clash with Medvedev on Wednesday, with the star Russian comfortably accounting for American Marcos Giron 6-0 6-1 6-2.
"They're the matches you want to play," Millman said.
"He's one of the few guys that I've actually never played before. I love watching him play.
"It's a daunting prospect because you know that when you play against him, you have to work for every point. He gives you no points. He covers the court extremely well. He extends the rallies and that's how I'm winning my rallies.
"So it's going to be a really tough battle but I've had a couple of big matches before against some of these big players and generally speaking, I like to test myself against them."
It was smooth sailing for Medvedev on Rod Laver Arena, who only needed an hour and 36 minutes to sweep past Giron and was excited to take on Millman for the first time.
"It's true that in five, six years that I'm on the tour we (Millman and I) never played," Medvedev said.
"He's a great player, especially here in Australia.
"I remember he almost beat Roger (Federer) in the US Open when Roger was up the top.
"He's capable of playing some great tennis so I'm going to have to play my best also and hopefully people are going to see a great match."
The third set was slightly scratchier.
Medvedev had two double faults while serving for the match and was clearly frustrated by the crowd making noise between points, but sealed victory nonetheless.
"I'm really happy about my level and looking forward to the next matches," he said.
Millman, who required a wildcard after falling to No.140 in the rankings, joins fellow Australians Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata in reaching the second round of the men's draw on the opening day.
It is the sixth time Millman has reached the second round at his home major, in his ninth Melbourne Park campaign and he relished the raucous crowd on Court 3.
"You can't underestimate just how big of an influence that crowd and the energy they give you (has to) tow you over the finish line," he said.
