South African tennis ace Kevin Anderson has fought back from the brink to overcome the Belarusian qualifier Ilya Ivashka in five sets at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The big-serving 33-year-old Anderson was two sets down after three sets and clinch the match in a nail biting tire break from 6-4, 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in three hours and 54 minutes to reach the second round.

He completed victory with an overhead‚ having gained the decisive mini-break in the final tie-break when he rushed to the net and Ivashka hit a backhand passing stroke wide.

Former World No. 4 Anderson will next face American 29th seed Taylor Fritz on Thursday‚ who beat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-3‚ 6-3‚ 6-3.

Earlier on Tuesday‚ Lloyd Harris lost to Argentine 14th-seed Diego Schwartzman.

Harris' Australian Open campaign ended after a straight sets loss to the Argentine‚ who won relatively comfortably against the rising South African star with a 6-4‚ 6-2‚ 6-2 score line.

The match lasted just 105 minutes after the 22-year-old Harris dropped serve six times in the match.

He won the eventual ace count 8-4 but that mattered little on a day when he also made 47 unforced errors against 18 by Schwartzman‚ who has a No 14 world ranking.