Australia's top men's hope Nick Kyrgios is bracing for a five-set slog to get past Serbian Viktor Troicki for a place in the third round at Melbourne Park.
Krygios and the world No.65 are the headline act on Hisense Arena on Wednesday with the Australian well aware of his opponent's never-say-die attitude.
Troicki trailed local wildcard Alex Bolt by two sets but roared back to take the match.
"He was two sets to love down, and (it) obviously didn't faze him very much as he came back and won," world No.17 Kyrgios said.
"That's not easy to do."
Kyrgios said he hoped to do more damage with his serve after admitting to some first round angst in his straight sets win over Rogerio Dutra Silva.
"In Brisbane I was serving really, really well and I thought I was hitting the ball a bit freer and that obviously it comes down to a bit of nerves," he said.
In the women's draw local hope Daria Gavrilova will take on Belgium's world No.37 Elise Mertens on Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday night while resurgent veteran Matt Ebden does battle with Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Queenslander John Millman will back up his straight-sets opening win against world No.30 Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION ON DAY THREE OF THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN
* Women's singles, second round
23-Daria Gavrilova v Elise Mertens (BEL)
Olivia Rogowska v Marta Kostyuk (UKR)
* Men's singles, second round
17-Nick Kyrgios v Viktor Troicki (SRB)
Matthew Ebden v Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)
John Millman v 28-Damir Dzumhur (BIH)
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