Bernard Tomic has survived a shaky start to earn a hard-fought win over Daniel Brands at the Australian Open this afternoon.
Tomic dropped the first set to the big-serving German as Brands edged a tense tie break by seven points to four.
The second set looked to be heading for a similar conclusion but late on Tomic earned a crucial break to draw level.
Brands continued to use a potent serve to trouble Tomic but started to wilt in testing conditions as the temperature hit 40 degrees in Melbourne.
Once again both men could not be separated before a tie-break in the third set, which Tomic edged in a topsy-turvy finish.
The crowd favourite squandered seven match points in the fourth but finally got over the line in another tie-break tussle which saw both players miss big chances across 18 points.
Brands showed why he continues to rise up the rankings but Tomic was not to be denied in his home Grand Slam and goes through to face either Roger Federer or Nikolay Davydenko in the third round.
Liam Power
