Canada's Shapovalov advances to 3rd round at Australian Open with 5-set comeback win

Canada's Denis Shapovalov is on to the third round of the Australian Open.

Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., beat South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-2 on Wednesday.

He will face 23-seed Reilly Opelka of the United States on Friday.

Shapovalov beat Soon-woo when the Korean sailed a backhand return high and wide.

The tightly contested match lasted nearly 4 1/2 hours.

Shapovalov had 29 aces to Soon-woo's three in the win.

WATCH l Shapovalov wins 2nd-round match at Australian Open:

Ash Barty was front and centre when the Australian Open celebrated its inaugural First Nations Day.

Albeit not for very long. The top-ranked Barty has Indigenous heritage and her second-round match at Melbourne Park's main stadium on Wednesday was among the features of a program dedicated to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.

She was on and off the court quickly, beating 142nd-ranked qualifier Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-1 in 52 minutes.

"Really cool. ... Nice for me to be a part of it in a way I feel most comfortable," Barty said. "On a day when we're bringing culture together ... it was really nice for me to go out and enjoy that.

"I was really fortunate to be able to play today."

Barty extended her streak of service holds to 48 games and moved into the third round at Melbourne Park for the sixth consecutive year.

The 2021 Wimbledon and 2019 French Open champion dropped just one game in her first-round match, which also took less than an hour, as she bids to become the first Australian woman since 1978 to win the country's Grand Slam tournament.