Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka moved into the second round of the Australian Open with a come-from-behind victory over Tunisian qualifier Aziz Dougaz on Monday.
Nishioka, currently the highest-ranked Japanese in men's tennis at 65th, won the 2-hour, 59-minute match between the two left-handers 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3.
The 29-year-old Nishioka kept his unforced errors to 21 while winning 66 percent of his second-serve points. Dougaz, ranked 231st, made 66 unforced errors at Melbourne Park.
"He caught me by surprise as the way he played wasn't like a player outside the top 200 at all," Nishioka said. "But I managed to play well at key moments."
Among other Japanese players, Taro Daniel made a first-round exit, with Australian wild card Tristan Schoolkate defeating him 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-4.
In the women's first round, Moyuka Uchijima eked out a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(8) win over Poland's Magda Linette, while compatriot Nao Hibino lost to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in three sets.
Also on Monday, defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy defeated Chile's Nicolas Jarry 7-6(2), 7-6(5), 6-1.
Carlos Alcaraz took care of Kazakhstan's Alexander Shevchenko 6-1, 7-5, 6-1.
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