Aussie veteran James Duckworth's pure emotion after astonishing five-set victory

James Duckworth has produced a win for the ages at the Australian Open, coming back from the brink against Dino Prizmic in a five-set epic.

The wily veteran advanced to the second round after a 7-6(4), 3-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over the Croatian lucky loser, who had plenty of support in the crowd.

Duckworth looked completely gone at the end of the third set after winning only one game, and appeared to be on the ropes in the fourth set as well.

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But in a true showing of Aussie grit and determination, the 33-year-old dug deep and forced it to a deciding set as the small Court 6 faithful rallied behind him.

Duckworth and Prizmic traded momentum on countless occasions throughout the night, but it clearly swung too far in the local hope's favour in the fifth set.

Leading 4-1 but with his opponent on serve, Duckworth surged towards a crucial break and set up a golden opportunity to move clear of Prizmic.

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After an epic 30-shot rally that could have ended on numerous occasions, Duckworth got his break to go up 5-1, and the emotion poured out of him.

He took a chance to celebrate with some young fans in the crowd, who were up past 10pm AEDT to watch the experienced Aussie campaigner go about his business.

Prizmic gave him one last scare, breaking back immediately before holding his next service game to close the gap at 5-3 in the final set.

But the comeback was finally completed by Duckworth after four hours and 21 minutes.

He collapsed to the floor and then got up, shook his opponent's hand and continued celebrating, throwing his fists in the air and tossing his wristbands into the crowd.

Duckworth will now take on defending champion Jannik Sinner in the second round.

Sinner moved through via walkover after Hugo Gaston retired with an injury at the end of the second set on Rod Laver Arena.