You’ve never heard of Jordan Thompson?

Well, before today, neither had most tennis fans. That changed, quite rapidly, last evening in Melbourne.

Thompson was facing world No. 20 Jerzy Janowicz, who is a tough task for anyone to beat with his massive serve and groundstrokes. Thompson was not cowed by the occasion. He relished it. He came out and held his first game to love. Then, after a Janowicz hold, he rattled off the next five games to take the first set in just 31 minutes. A break in the ninth game of the second set was all Thompson needed to take that 6-4.

Thompson got tight as the match went on—and possibly a bit fatigued in his first career five-setter—which allowed Janowicz to take the match to a deciding fifth set. And while Thompson just did not have enough in him to compete at a high level in the fifth set, that in no way detracts from the incredible tennis he showed us.

Thompson neutralized Jerzy’s powerful serve and groundstrokes with deep returns. He is incredibly quick around the court, which allowed him to run down a ton of balls. He has some power, but that’s not what he uses to beat you. Thompson wins points with great placement of shots around the court and unflappable defense.

Watching Thompson play is very reminiscent of Andy Murray—both in his style of play and his on-court demeanor. Thompson may have been ranked outside the top 300 when the tournament started, but with the way he has shown he can play here at Melbourne (and at the Kooyong exhibition last week), we can expect him to rise up the rankings very, very quickly.

Monday’s Best:

David Ferrer: After his loss to Yen-Hsun Lu last week, many wondered what type of form Ferrer would be in for the Australian Open. Rarely is the world No. 3 ever talked about as little as Ferrer has been recently. Getting out of the gate quickly with a solid win over Alejandro Gonzalez was his way of telling the tennis world that he will compete here. It wasn’t an absolute domination, but it was a victory strong enough to alleviate some of his fans’ fears.

Dominic Thiem:  The 20-year-old Austrian qualified for his first-ever Grand Slam main draw here in Melbourne and took full advantage, beating Joao Sousa in four sets. Thiem is a rising young talent who is most comfortable on clay, where he won two Challenger titles last year. We can’t expect too much of him this tournament, but he is definitely one to keep an eye on for the future.

Monday’s Worst:

Jerzy Janowicz: All credit to Thompson, who played an incredible match. That said, Janowicz’s decision-making was suspect throughout the match, from his inexplicably wide service position to his overuse of the drop shot. Combining those decisions with far too many double faults and unforced errors, it was a match that falls far short of what we expect from the world No. #20.

Ivo Karlovic: Karlovic didn’t do much wrong in his loss to Ivan Dodig, but losing two tiebreak isn’t something he can afford to do. Karlovic is a danger to anyone on tour because his serve is nearly unbreakable. But his effectiveness comes from his ability to win tiebreaks, and that key strength let him down on a big stage today.

Match of the Day:

In addition to the aforementioned Thompson/Janowicz match, there was a classic encounter that Matthew Ebden and Nicolas Mahut played today. Whenever an Australian plays well on a large court at this tournament, you know the crowd will be electric. And this one did not disappoint. When Ebden took a two-set lead, the crowd was excited and the match was on.

Each of Ebden’s last two matches here in Melbourne (2012 against Kei Nishikori and last year against Mikhail Youzhny) saw him squander a two-set-to-none lead. So, when Ebden lost a tough third set and then did not compete well in the fourth, people saw another heartbreak coming. But it did not happen.  Ebden played impressive tennis and rode the crowd to victory, beating Mahut’s very solid attacking game in a match that was as entertaining as the score would indicate.