Casper Ruud said on Thursday he was lucky to still be in the Australian Open after winning a five-set thriller in the second round.
Three-time Grand Slam finalist survived a great fight by Australian Max Purcell, who had never been beyond the second round of a slam before but was backed by the boisterous home fans, to win down 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10/7) after nearly four hours of intense tennis.
Ruud is the top-ranked Norwegian in history after claiming a career-high two by qualifying for the 2022 US Open final.
"I think it was an incredible match and it could have gone both ways," said the 11th seed.
"Max has taken his tennis to a new level and I wish him the best of success in the year to come.
"He plays fast and is one of the most unorthodox players these days and it's tough. He made it hard and luckily in the end it went in my favour."
Earlier, sixth seed Alexander Zverev also avoided a major upset at the Australian Open on Thursday as he defeated Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein 7-5 3-6 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(7) and qualified for the third round.
The 4-1/2-hour match was completed under the roof on John Cain Arena due to rain.
Zverev was on a tight spot as world number 163 Klein took control after losing the opening set to take the next two.
"I would have much rather won in an hour-and-a-half but what can I do," Zverev said. "He played incredible, was hitting every ball as hard as he could from both sides. I didn't really know what to do a lot of the times.
"To be honest, he probably deserved to win more than me. That's how tennis goes sometimes. I'm happy that I'm through but his ranking is no value to how he's playing."