Radek Stepanek became the oldest man in the French Open draw when the 37-year-old won three matches in the Grand Slam’s qualifying event.
His reward will be a meeting with world No. 2 Andy Murray.
Stepanek was sidelined for eight months due to problems with his sciatica nerve, saying it left him with half the muscle in his right leg.
"I had to dig really deep to come back and to be able to compete with the best guys in the world," the former world No. 8 told the French Open website. "Now I'm in a good position, obviously playing some good tennis on clay, which was not always my greatest surface ... I'm very pleased that [after] a year-and-a-half [with] this injury, I'm slowly back."
The veteran Czech plays an old brand of tennis, hitting a flat ball and often serving and volleying—an unusual style in today's game. But he is finding renewed success with that style, as he defeated 20-year-old Yoshihito Nishioka to clinch his spot in the clay-court major.
He also defeated two younger opponents in the first two rounds.
"It’s great,” he said. “It makes me feel 25 again.”
Stepanek is No. 129 in the rankings.