Australian Jack Schipanski has struck an early blow in the Australian Open juniors, knocking out one of the boys’ singles favourites.

South Australia’s Schipanski, 17, beat No.2 seed Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 2-6 6-3 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Monday in their first-round clash.

Monteiro, rated one of the world’s most promising prospects, cruised through the opening set in 29 minutes before the Australian fought back to win the near-two hour match.

Australia’s world No.1 Luke Saville made it a good day for the host nation with a comfortable 6-1 6-1 first-round win over Israel’s Or Ram-Hamel.

Schipanski and Saville teamed up later for a first-round boys’ doubles match and won that too – 6-4 6-3 over Japan’s Ken Onishi and Takashi Saito.

Another South Australian, Bradley Mousley, also triumphed in a first-round match.

Mousley, who has just turned 16, beat Romania’s Stefarn Vinto 6-3 7-6 (8-6.)