Milos Raonic backed up his first-round victory over Nick Kyrgios by defeating former champion Stan Wawrinka 6-7 (4) 7-6 (6) 7-6 (11) 7-6 (5).
The 16th-seeded Canadian certainly did not have the luck of the draw but the manner in which he has dispatched two highly dangerous opponents suggests he could be a real threat this fortnight.
Raonic has struggled with injuries since his brilliant season in 2016, when he reached the semi-finals in Melbourne, the final of Wimbledon and was ranked third in the world.
The match was interrupted for about a half-hour while the roof at Rod Laver Arena was shut because of rain at four-all in the third set.
Raonic thought that helped him quite a bit.
"I do a little bit better indoors than outdoors," he said, "so thank you for raining up there."
Raonic delivered 39 aces, part of an impressive ratio of 84 total winners to only 44 unforced errors.
