Thanasi Kokkinakis battled a parochial home crowd and fought back from a set down to outlast French left-hander Terence Atmane to advance in Paris.
The Australian had complained of shoulder issues ahead of the match but found a way at two sets to one down, then 5-3 and 30-0 in the decider to take the match 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
It was the 16th time the South Australian had gone the distance in his career, scoring his ninth victory in a deciding set, in more than four hours of court time.
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While the heat posed an issue for both players, Kokkinakis had the added hurdle of a loud home crowd, who baited him throughout, especially late in the fourth set.
Kokkinakis served an ace as he led 5-2, which was disputed by Atmane, leading to the chair umpire to assess the mark on court.
It was ruled a fault, but after further inspection the point was given to the Aussie, following a lengthy chat on court with the official and Atmane.
That riled up the crowd even more as they whistled and booed as discussions were held.
The boos continued after the point was awarded to Kokkinakis and his next serve had to be delayed.
"My tennis level, without sounding like an idiot, I'm not that surprised," Kokkinakis said in his press conference.
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"I've missed so much time in my career, and I feel like time and time again I've been able to prove and have some good wins after that time.
"But I think to come back after such little tennis on a grand slam stage and in these conditions against a good player from France, as well, it's probably my best mental effort considering where I was."
Elsewhere, Aussie stars Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina also braved the hot conditions to prevail.
De Minaur, the world No.7, defeated British qualifier Toby Samuel 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 while Kasatkina, who fell to her lowest ranking for 11 years last month, won 6-4, 6-4 against Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez.
Aussie teenager Emerson Jones was not so lucky, hammered 6-1, 6-2 by Iga Swiatek in an hour, after needing treatment for a blister on her hand after the first set.
Australian women's No.1 Maya Joint was outclassed 6-1, 6-2 by 28th seed Anastasia Potapova in 71 minutes.
Talia Gibson was eliminated Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
American Tommy Paul also ended Rinky Hijikata's campaign with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory while Sydney player Aleksandar Vukic went down 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to Belgian Raphael Collignon.
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