Bulgaria's top-ranked tennis players Grigor Dimitrov and Tsvetana Pironkova advanced to the second round of the Australian Open on January 16, but did so in very different fashion.

Dimitrov, the only Bulgarian male player to ever win a match at the Australian Open, repeated his 2011 feat, but needed five sets and three hours and 17 minutes to defeat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the first round in Melbourne.

Dimitrov twice rallied from a set down to tie the match and played his best of the match in the tie-breaker to win 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. He also overcame having his serve broken in the final set to win.

In a match that featured plenty of mistakes on both sides (49 unforced errors for Chardy to 38 by Dimitrov), the Bulgarian did a better job of improving as the match went along and won the key late points.

Chardy, ranked 82nd in the world, looked early on as if he would prevail by virtue of a marginally better first serve, but Dimitrov, four spots above him in the ATP Tour rankings, kept himself in the match, saving a total of 19 of 22 break points, including a triple break point in the tie-break with the score tied at 3-3.

Both players elevated their play late, but it was Dimitrov who showed more mental toughness in the tie-break, refusing to get rattled by several close umpire calls that went against him. Dimitrov next faces 10th seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain.

Pironkova defeated India's Sania Mirza in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, taking advantage of her opponent's mistakes and poor second-service play to convert six of 16 break points.

For a fifth time in six years, Pironkova will play in the second round of the Australian Open, but she has never advanced further than that. This time, she will face Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan, who upset 28th-seed Yanina Wickmayer in the first round.