Australian Open: Stan Wawrinka Dodges Romanian Rockets to Reach Third Round

Stan Wawrinka gave the thumbs up for his Australian Open title defence as he defused the big serving Marius Copil to progress to the third round on Thursday. (Sluggish Serena joins Rampant Djokovic in Round 3)

The Swiss fourth seed faced down Copil's rockets, including the fastest recorded serve so far this year, clocked at 242 kph (150 mph), on the way to his win in three tight sets. (Bhupathi suffers first-round exit in men's doubles event)

Wawrinka won 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in 2hr 16min and will now play Finnish journeyman Jarkko Nieminen in the seeded round. (Nishikori battles hard to reach 3rd round)

Copil kept Wawrinka on his toes with his lively serving and the Swiss needed two tiebreak sets to get the edge over the Romanian.

"It was quite a tough match and happy to get through, especially in three sets," Wawrinka said.

"The condition wasn't easy today. Quite hot. Really fast on the court and he was playing great. He was serving big, putting lots of pressure on me.

"I wasn't playing my best tennis, but I'm happy the way I fight today and win the match."

Wawrinka, who upset Rafael Nadal in last year's Melbourne final to win his maiden Grand Slam title, was satisfied two matches into the tournament.

"Yeah, I'm happy with my game in general. To win first two matches in three sets, it's great," he said.

"I'm playing great tennis. I'm practising well, feeling the ball well.

"If you want to get far in the tournament it can be two long weeks. So you need to be ready to have some ups and downs. So far it's been good tennis. I'm happy."

Copil may have been ranked 190 spots below Wawrinka but in the end only four points separated the pair over the course of the match on Margaret Court Arena.

"It was important to take the first tiebreaker and I tried to stay aggressive with my game. He gave me a few points in the second tiebreaker," Wawrinka said.

It was far from the perfect match for Wawrinka as he made more unforced errors than winners at 39 to 36. The Swiss could only get two breaks in seven opportunities on Copil's big serve.