Nikoloz Basilashvili in Australian Open Round 2 after winning start

Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili is through to the second round of Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year, after defeating Austria’s Gerald Melzer in Melbourne earlier on Monday.

Basilashvili earned the right to compete in Round 2 after edging past Melzer after a two-hour, 19-minute game that ended 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the favour of the Georgian.

Ranked as World No. 61 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Basilashvili faced World No. 102 Melzer on Court 5 of the first major tournament of 2018.

The 25-year old Georgian has reached Round 2 of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament for the first time. Photo: Nikoloz Basilashvili athlete Facebook page.

Scoring 75 percent of his first serve as opposed to Melzer’s 63, the 25-year old emerged ahead in most statistics of the match.

The Tbilisi-born player will now proceed to face Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans, ranked World No. 117, in Round 2 set to be played on Wednesday.

Round 2 is the furthest Basilashvili has advanced in the Australian Open, with the Georgian defeated in the first match by Roger Federer in 2016 and Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2017.

In other Grand Slam tournaments the Georgian has reached Round 3 of the French Open and Wimbledon, while his performance at US Open also peaked at Round 1 in 2015 and 2017.