Stan Wawrinka survived a fightback from Ricardas Berankis to win in four sets and reach the Australian Open second round on his return from injury.

The ninth seed was playing his first match since having knee surgery after a first-round exit at Wimbledon in July.

The Swiss won the opening two sets, before losing seven successive games as Berankis took the third set and moved 3-0 up in the fourth on Hisense Arena.

But Wawrinka recovered to take the tie-break and win 6-3 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-2).

The 2014 champion will play American Tennys Sandgren next.

Wawrinka reached the semi-finals last year and looked to be sailing through against the Lithuanian world number 141.

However, it took the 32-year-old two hours and 47 minutes to finally seal his place in round two.

“It was a tough battle and I’m really happy to win my first match here after six months out,” Wawrinka said.

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Milos Raonic, the 22nd seed, suffered his earliest Grand Slam exit in seven years after he was knocked out in the first round by Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko.

The Canadian, who tore his right calf muscle in October not long after returning from wrist surgery, lost 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-4) to the world number 86.

“I wasn’t sharp and I struggled physically, thankfully not from injury, but from fitness and preparedness and that caught up with me a lot,” said Raonic.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev progressed with a 6-1 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 victory over Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano on Rod Laver Arena – the 20-year-old will face fellow German Peter Gojowczyk in the next round.

Meanwhile, the dangerous Fernando Verdasco, ranked 40th, knocked out fellow Spaniard and 20th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 7-5 7-5.

American 13th seed Sam Querrey is also safely through to the next round after beating Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 6-2.