MELBOURNE — Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka was given a thorough workout before beating 37-year-old Radek Stepanek 6-2 6-3 6-4 to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
The 30-year-old Swiss was occasionally bamboozled by the Czech veteran's serve-and-volley game but kept his composure to triumph after a two-hour contest on Hisense Arena.
The pair exchanged breaks, and line-call challenges, in a thoroughly entertaining 57-minute third set before Stepanek went long to send Wawrinka into the third round for the eighth year in a row.
Champion at Melbourne Park two years ago, Wawrinka will meet American Jack Sock or another Czech in Lukas Rosol in the half of the draw left weakened by the first round exit of Rafa Nadal.