AUSTRALIAN teen Bernard Tomic stole the show on day one of the Australian Open Monday with an epic five-set upset of Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, as Juan Martin del Potro safely launched his campaign.

Tomic, his country’s top-ranked men’s player at 38, dug deep as he came from two sets down to oust the experienced 22nd seed in four hour-plus thriller on a sweltering Rod Laver Arena.

The 19-year-old produced the finest performance of his fledgling professional career to reel in Verdasco in only his third five-setter.

The gruelling victory played out in 34 Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) temperatures again showcased Tomic’s enormous potential after he became the youngest man in 25 years to reach the quarter-finals of last year’s Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, world number two Rafael Nadal took a little bit of time to get into his work but advanced to the second round of the Australian Open Monday with a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, victory over Alex Kuznetsov.

The 10-times grand slam winner, who is battling a nagging shoulder injury and has said his knees were still a concern, took 44 minutes to take the first set against the persistent American.

“Anything’s possible if you keep trying,” Tomic said. “Same thing happened at Wimbledon when I was in the second round. I was losing two sets to love down and made the quarters.

“Anything is possible. Can’t always give up. You can learn about yourself, and, yeah, how in the future you can play.”

Verdasco looked on course to wipe Tomic in straight sets, powering through the opening two sets before the Australian broke the Spaniard in the ninth game of the third set to sight a glimmer of hope.

And Tomic grew stronger in the heat, while Verdasco showed more signs of weariness and he took the match into a fifth set.

In the second round Tomic will play American Sam Querrey, who beat French wild card Kenny de Schepper in straight sets.

The former US Open champion dropped the opening set before going through 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.