MELBOURNE, (AP):

Rafael Nadal dropped to his knees, clasping his hands tightly and appearing to be on the verge of tears as he celebrated a win at the Australian Open.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion has played some epic matches in Rod Laver Arena, including an almost six-hour final. The 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-5 win yesterday was a breakthrough of sorts for the third-seeded Nadal, who came into the first major of the season after playing just four tournaments since Wimbledon because of a right-wrist injury and appendix surgery.

At the end of the third game of the third set, Nadal called for assistance and was given medication for stomach pain. At times in the match, he was doubled over in pain, seemingly on the verge of sickness or exhaustion.

Number two-ranked Maria Sharapova saved two match points before escaping with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 second-round win over fellow Russian Alexandra Panova, a qualifier ranked number 150.

Roger Federer dropped the first set before beating Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.

Sharapova made 51 unforced errors as she went for the lines, but kept swinging hard and saved some of her best ground strokes for when she needed them.

In a late match that started just before midnight because of the extended Nadal five-setter, French Open finalist and third-seeded Simona Halep beat Jarmila Gajdsova 6-2, 6-2.

Number seven, Eugenie Bouchard, who reached the semi-finals or better at three of the four majors in 2014, needed just 54 minutes to beat Kiki Bertens 6-0, 6-3. Also advancing were number 10, Ekaterina Makarova, number 21, Peng Shuai, and number 22, Karolina Pliskova.

Three-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray wasn't bothered by anything, particularly the parochial crowd, as he beat Melbourne's Marinko Matosevic 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.

Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced along with number 10, Grigor Dimitrov, number 14, Kevin Anderson, and number 24, Richard Gasquet.

Seven of the men's seeds were defeated among them, 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis beat No. 20 David Goffin and Bernard Tomic had a late 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) win over No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber.