Marcos Baghdatis beat Marat Safin in a five set thriller on day four that lived up to its block-buster billing.
The Cypriot took an early lead in the match, racing to two sets to love with Safin seemingly absent from Rod Laver Arena.
The Russian managed to turn things around in the third set, improving his accuracy as Baghdatis was repeatedly called on foot faults.
Safin's dominance continued in the fourth set and it looked likely that he would race away with the match but Baghdatis pulled out some big serving to clinch the decider.
"He was just playing unbelievable," said Baghdatis of the Russian, following the match. "He was hitting the lines. He was just playing so big. When I sat down at the end of the fourth set, I said to myself that I have to start serving big because I wanted to win easy with free points on my of serve, and that's what I did. I guess that's where I made the difference."
