John Millman remains on course for a dream grand slam return bout with Roger Federer after downing Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the opening round of the Australian Open.
Millman won 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 1-6 7-5, with Humbert losing his nerve in the final game on Tuesday, serving two consecutive double faults to close out the match.
On a good day for the local contingent, the Queenslander was joined in the second round by his Davis Cup teammate Jordan Thompson and wildcard Marc Polmans, both of whom beat opponents from Kazakhstan.
Thompson outclassed Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-3 6-2 in what was only his third victory in nine attempts at Melbourne Park in the space of six years.
Polmans had to work much harder before edging past Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-7 (8-10) 6-4 in a marathon encounter, lasting four hours and 17 minutes.
It was a gutsy display from the 22-year-old Polmans, who had to regroup following the disappointment of blowing three match points in the fourth-set tiebreak.
Millman’s second-round opponent will be Poland’s No.31 seed Hubert Hurkacz, who fought back from two sets down to beat Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak.
Were he to win that encounter, Millman’s likely third-round opponent at Melbourne Park would be 20-time major champion Federer, whom the Australian famously ousted in the the round of 16 at the 2018 US Open.
“It would be nice to have another encounter with Roger, but I’m under no illusion, this next match is going to be an absolute tough one,” said Millman.
“(Hurkacz) is someone that we’re going to really start … remembering his name because he’s exponentially improving at a massive rate right now.
“He’s one of the ones you’re going to be seeing on your screens deep in tournaments well into the future.
“It’s going to be an extremely tough match tomorrow.
“But if I can get through it, you want to be playing the best players in the world and you want to be playing on the biggest courts, win or lose.”
Thompson’s reward for the straight-sets victory over Bublik is a second-round encounter against No.12 seed Fabio Fognini from Italy.
“That was tough, tougher than the scoreline suggested,” said the Australian.
“There were a lot of long games on serve for both of us.”
Bublik won a couple of points with under-arm serves, a controversial tactic which did not bother Thompson.
“It doesn’t worry me when people do it,” he said.
“It’s allowed, you’ve just got to be ready for it.”
Earlier on Tuesday, rising Italian star Jannik Sinner ended the campaign of qualifier Max Purcell.
Sinner was on the brink of victory, leading by two sets to love, when heavy rain interrupted their first-round clash on Monday afternoon.
When play resumed under clear skies on Tuesday, the Italian needed only a few more minutes to close out the 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-4 win.
After losing to Rafael Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer in three of his past four Open campaigns, James Duckworth suffered yet another gut-wrenching first-round exit.
The wildcard bowed out 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 to Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia.