John Millman has made a winning start to 2018 after storming past Canadian qualifier Peter Polansky in straight sets to open his Brisbane International campaign.

Handed a wildcard entry to his home tournament, the popular 28-year-old cashed in with a hard-earned 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 victory late on Tuesday night.

It started out as a relatively even match-up between two grafters ranked outside the world’s top 100 but Millman won all the key moments, setting up a tough second-round clash with world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday.

He broke Polansky twice to win a tense tiebreaker to end an arm-wrestle of a first set, then landed what proved to be the knockout blow by breaking his serve again in the very next game.

Polansky unravelled from there, winning only two points for the remainder of the match as Millman wrapped up the second set in little more than half an hour.

The Canadian, who is nine spots behind Millman at No.137 in the world, reached a career-high ranking of 115 last year, having blown out to 704 two years ago.

His career almost didn’t happen at all. Polansky suffered life-threatening injuries after falling out a third-story window in a sleepwalking accident when he was 18, suffering cuts so bad that doctors contemplated amputating his leg.

Millman withdrew from last year’s Brisbane International due to injury and had groin surgery that saw him spend almost eight months on the sidelines, but he clearly relished his return to Pat Rafter Arena.

He has built nicely ever since, making the third round of the US Open before a surprise Davis Cup debut in a valiant semi-final loss away to Belgium.

A protected ranking means he is assured of a spot at the Australian Open.