Australian teenager Alex De Minaur has played the game of his life at the Sydney International, upsetting top-50 player Benoit Paire to claim his maiden ATP tour win.
Ranked 287 places below the world No.46, De Minaur showed why he is rated one of the country's brightest prospects, outlasting the Frenchman 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-1) on Tuesday at Homebush.
"I wasn't really going to push myself too hard for results these couple of weeks but, well, the results I have been getting, I couldn't be any happier," De Minaur said on Tuesday.
Australian Jordan Thompson enjoyed a far more comfortable 7-5 6-2 victory in Sydney on Tuesday night, although not over the opponent he was hoping to face.
Thompson made light work of Georgian lucky loser Nikoloz Basilashvili, who was called up following an injury setback to Thompson's doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.
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Thompson faces Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round, while De Minaur is up against Andrey Kuznetsov.
Just last week, the 17-year-old De Minaur dazzled fans at the Brisbane International with shock qualifying wins over 2015 Sydney finalist Mikhail Kukushkin and American young gun Frances Tiafoe.
And while he went down to Mischa Zverev on his tour tournament debut, he wasted no time getting his first ATP win of his burgeoning career with an impressive showing in his home town.
"I told myself that I was going to have some opportunities in the match. I thought that I was getting on his serve quite often," De Minaur said.
"I just thought to myself that one of these games, he was going to have a cheap game, where he was going to have a couple of loose errors. I was glad I was able to take that opportunity."
A junior Wimbledon finalist last year, De Minaur received some invaluable Davis Cup experience in September alongside captain Lleyton Hewitt, Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic.
Hewitt doubled as De Minaur's mentor and was courtside at Ken Rosewell Arena on day three.
"It helps me relax a bit and just makes sure I focus on the next point," said De Minaur, who has also received a wildcard into next week's Australian Open in Melbourne.
"That helps me just play the match point by point and not get too ahead of myself. It's great to have him out there every match, just supporting me, in my corner.
"He's just pretty much told me to believe I can beat these guys. That goes a long way. It's important to not get out there already beaten on court."
Kuznetsov progressed after the retirement of seventh seed Martin Klizan, while trailing 3-0 in the deciding third set.
Zverev beat Nicolas Almagro in straight sets, while Gilles Muller and Marcel Granollers also banked early wins in the Open tune-up.
