Lleyton Hewitt has three added incentives to keep his run going at the Australian Open when he takes on German Benjamin Becker in the second round on Thursday night.
The 33-year-old will be out to prove the old guard still has what it takes to match the young brigade after compatriots Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic, as well as 27-year-old Sam Groth booked third round berths.
Kyrgios had a four-set win over big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic while Tomic also triumphed over German Philipp Kohlschreiber in four tight sets.
Groth eliminated Australian teen Thanasi Kokkinakis in five sets on Wednesday night.
Hewitt said world No.41 Becker would be up for the challenge after his comfortable win over 25th seed Julien Benneteau.
“He plays really tough,” Hewitt said of Becker.
“He’s an experienced campaigner. He’s been around for a long time. He’s won quite a lot of big matches. I think he plays pretty well over five sets.”
While Hewitt is the only Australian man playing in the singles draw on Thursday, there are three local hopes up against a trio of Americans in the women’s draw.
Samantha Stosur, the tournament’s 20th seed, will follow Hewitt in night action on Rod Laver Arena, up against Coco Vandeweghe.
Casey Dellacqua, seeded 29, is the third match on the day schedule on Margaret Court Arena, taking on Madison Keys.
Ajla Tomljanovic is facing Varvara Lepchenko in the second match on court two.
Adelaide’s Kokkinakis lost a rollercoaster five-setter to fellow Australian Groth – the owner of the fastest-ever serve.
Groth crunched 26 aces to chisel out a memorable 3-6 6-3 7-5 3-6 6-1 triumph over one of Australian tennis’ next big things.
The victory continued Groth’s remarkable rise from one-time suburban Melbourne Australian Rules footballer and, as former world No.1 Jim Courier put it, a serving “novelty act” to grand slam challenger.
“The journey I’ve taken the last two years, the last 10 years, the last twenty years, it’s a pretty amazing feeling,” Groth said.
The 27-year-old’s reward is another all-Australian showdown on Friday with Bernard Tomic for a coveted place in the last 16.
“I feel like I’m in career best form and I’m where I’m at in the rankings for a reason,” said Groth, the world No.82 who only broke into the top 100 for the first time last year.
“I’ll come back firing on Friday. I have the opportunity to play in the second week.
“So if I can win another match and get in the second week, I feel like I deserve to be there.”
Despite his confidence, Groth conceded he was still pinching himself at being in the last 32 of a major.
“It’s a fair way from the grass courts of Corowa and Albany,” he said.
“I’m a country boy. I always wanted to play on the big courts. That was my dream. Now I’m living that dream.”
Kokkinakis was valiant in defeat, but admitted he ran out of steam after upsetting world No.13 Ernests Gulbis in his first-ever five-set match on Monday night.
“I felt pretty zapped,” the 18-year-old said after the near-three-hour battle.
Threatening to pull off his second mighty comeback win from two sets to one down in 48 hours, Kokkinakis twinged a hamstring early in the deciding set as the higher-ranked and more-experienced Groth raced to a 5-0 lead before advancing after two hours and 53 minutes.
