PARIS: Croatian Ivo Karlovic became the oldest man to reach the third round of a grand slam for 25 years when the 37-year-old came through a marathon five-setter against Australian Jordan Thompson at the French Open on Wednesday.

Karlovic, seeded 27, banged down 41 aces in a 6-7(2) 6-3 7-6(3) 6-7(4) 12-10 victory against the 22-year-old wildcard.

He broke serve at 10-10 and sealed a memorable victory with a volley after four hours and 31 minutes, the longest match of this year's tournament so far.

Jimmy Connors reached the third round at the French and U.S. Opens in 1991, aged 38.

Karlovic will face either second seed Andy Murray or France's Mathias Bourgue for a place in the last 16 at Roland Garros for the first time.