ROGER FEDERER battled past dogged Aussie John Millman in a five-set third round thriller on Rod Laver Arena.
The 38-year-old put his many fans through the ringer as he was made to work for his victory over the world number 47 in Melbourne.
The Swiss maestro dropped the first after the home player put in an inspired performance in front of his home crowd.
Federer regrouped to edge the second set 7-2 in a tiebreak.
And it looked as though the danger had subsided when he finally broke his solid opponent in the third to take a two sets to one lead under the Aussie night sky.
But Millman wasnt done yet, serving superbly to win the fourth set 6-4 without even facing a single break point.
And the home fans were in a frenzy when their home-hero remarkably went a break up in the fifth set.
But the 20-time Grand Slam winner showed his mettle to grind out the win 10-8 in the deciding tiebreak.
Federer will face Marton Fucsovics in round four, after the Hungarian battered American Tommy Paul for the loss of just six games earlier in the day.
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