Ivo Karlovic breaks records at Australian Open

Croatian Ivo Karlovic had an afternoon to remember as smashed the record for not only the most number of aces in an Australian Open match but also won the longest fifth set in the history of Australian Open singles.

Karlovic, who currently holds a 2-1 winning record against world number one Novak Djokovic, came from two sets down to beat Horacio Zeballos 6-7 (6-8), 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 22-20 and seal his place in the second round.

In a match that lasted an almighty 5 hours and 15 minutes, 37-year-old Karlovic managed to surpass Joachim Johansson's previous record of 51 aces in a single match against Andre Agassi in 2005.

The length of the match itself wasn't a record, however, the 2012 Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was only concluded just before the 6-hour mark.

The final set, which ended 22-20 in Karlovic's favor, took two hours and 37 minutes to complete, writing itself in the Australian Open record book.

Karlovic, one of the tallest players in tennis history at 6ft11in, certainly didn't have it all his own way.

"This is up there definitely with all of my toughest matches," Karlovic said. "It was also difficult mentally because I was down 2-0. I had to also fight against him and against my own head. So it was definitely really difficult," he said.

The world number 21 will meet Australian wildcard Andrew Whittington in the second round in Melbourne.