Australian Matthew Ebden avoided a third-straight dramatic Australian Open fadeout on Monday, riding a wave of emotion and hanging tough in the deciding set to beat Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the opening round at Melbourne Park.

Ebden’s previous two Open campaigns had ended with him squandering two-set leads and losing to Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Monday’s clash on showcourt two appeared to be following a similar path when Mahut levelled at two sets apiece.

But the 26-year-old Ebden made the key break in the eighth game of the final set and then held serve to win 6-3 7-5 4-6 0-6 6-3 in a match lasting three hours and four minutes.

“Of course those thoughts of previous years are there,” said Ebden, the world No.67.

“At the same time, Nishikori is 12 in the world or something.

“Youzhny, as well, he’s been top 10 and he’s still top 20 and that was last year.

“… these guys are very good players who I probably should have beaten.

“I guess I’ve tried to look at it in a positive light and take confidence from it, knowing that in grand slams I’ve had these guys on the ropes and probably could have gotten over the line.

“It’s part of the learning experience and grand slams don’t come around all that often.”

Ebden has battled an ankle injury in recent weeks, but was able to draw inspiration from a parochial crowd in the key moments of his clash with Mahut.

“The crowd really lifted me,” he said.

“They lifted my spirits.

“They gave me energy, stuff that I didn’t have.

“I think that was the difference for me.”

The Frenchman is no stranger to five-set cliffhangers, having lost to American John Isner at Wimbledon in 2010 in the longest match in grand slam history, an epic spread over three days that lasted more than 11 hours.