Teenage Australian wildcard Alex De Minaur stunned Milos Raonic to reach the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International on Wednesday.
Despite needing a wildcard to qualify for the tournament, the teenager took down world No 44 Steve Johnson 7-6, 6-4 in the round of 32 before a gruelling victory over the Canadian giant Raonic.
The 5-foot-11 de Minaur stood up to his 6-foot-5 Raonic's powerful serve, converting three break points and allowing Raonic to steal just one.
SIGN UP to watch the women's tournament at the Brisbane International via DAZN
After taking the first set 6-4, the energetic youngster dominated in the second by breaking serve twice, extending his lead to 5-2.
A frustrated Raonic hoped to capitalise on De Minaur's nervousness and inexperience with the match on the line, blasting his way through the next two games with ease.
But the Australian remained composed and held his serve to take a 6-4 6-4 win in his biggest career moment.
The 18-year-old is ranked 185 places below Raonic at 209 in the world, but he broke the 2016 Wimbledon finalist three times and held to love in the last game in front of a raucous crowd at Pat Rafter Arena. Earlier in the tournament, Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Paul Polansky lost their first-round matches.
De Minaur had benefited from the advice and support of Australia's Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt prior to upsetting the fourth seed in Queensland.
"I honestly can't believe it," he said in an on-court interview.
"I'd like to thank everyone who came out and supported [me]. It's going to take a while for me to believe what happened just now. I'm lost for words actually.
“A new star! Alex De Minaur!”
— #BrisbaneTennis (@BrisbaneTennis) January 3, 2018
The Aussie youngster soaks up the applause. Lleyton Hewitt is on his feet. What a moment. #BrisbaneTENnis pic.twitter.com/GAdcJZeuW5
"At the end of the day, I was going to come out here and compete my hardest and I ended up playing an unbelievable match, it's crazy."
De Minaur's opponent in the last eight will be American teenager Michael Mmoh, who overcame Mischa Zverev 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Asked what his tactic was against Raonic's famous serve, De Minaur responded cheekily: ''I was just guessing really, not going to lie.''
Raonic, the No. 24 ranked player in the world, had reached the semifinals in his last three trips to Brisbane, falling at that stage to eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov last season. Raonic won the tournament in 2016, defeating Roger Federer in the final while avenging his loss to the Swiss legend in the previous year’s final in the process.