Melbourne Park favourite Jordan Thompson has fallen short of re-enacting his first-round heroics of a year ago, going down in a tense five-set thriller at the Australian Open.

The 23-year-old Australian didn’t land a single blow in the first two sets against Argentine Nicolas Kicker, ranked six spots ahead of him, but battled back before losing 6-3 6-1 4-6 3-6 6-3 in 3 hours and 43 minutes.

Thompson sprung his first home-slam upset last year, coming up trumps after going the distance with Portugal’s Joao Sousa.