In one of the most eagerly anticipated matches of the first week of the Australian Open, fifteenth seed Marcos Baghdatis has proved resilient against a courageous comeback from former world number one Marat Safin to win his second round match of the Asia-Pacific grand slam in five sets.

After having a commanding two sets to love lead, foot fault errors began to creep into Baghdatis’ game, along with Safin stepping up to take the third and fourth sets.

Baghdatis fought back to win the fifth set of the three and a half hour thriller 6-4.

“He was just playing unbelievable,” Baghdatis said in his post-match press conference, speaking highly of Safin.

“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.”

Final Score: 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2.

Baghdatis will now play nineteenth seed Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who defeated qualifier Denis Istomen in four sets.

Tags: Australian Open, Tennis