Marcos Baghdatis came through a punishing five-set battle with Albert Ramos to bring an end to the opening day's play at the Australian Open.
Ramos took the first set in a tense tie-break, with Baghdatis returning the favour to level a match with very little to choose between the two players.
Baghdatis forced a late break in the third to go 2-1 up, but the Cypriot was pegged back by a resilient Ramos as the titanic tussle went past midnight in Melbourne.
The Spaniard tried to stave off cramp in the final set but was quickly broken as Bagdatis looked to have gained a second wind.
The 28th seed broke again shortly after and had a match point on the Ramos serve, but once again the Spaniard showed heart to keep the match alive.
After well over four hours of play Baghdatis finally served out a keenly-contested encounter to book a second-round match against Tatsuma Ito.
Liam Power
