Australia’s No.3-ranked player Marinko Matosevic won a thrilling match against Frenchman Julien Benneteau on Monday in the first round of the Brisbane International tennis tournament.

Matosevic’s 5-7 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory at Pat Rafter Arena was his first triumph in the main draw of a top-tier event in his home country at his 10th attempt.

The 28-year-old Victorian screamed in ecstasy after his nail-biting victory in a third-set tiebreak after two hours and 41 minutes of see-sawing tennis.

He next plays the winner of Monday afternoon’s clash between American Sam Querrey and Russian seventh seed Dmitry Tursunov.

Matosevic, who reached a career-high world ranking of No.39 in February, hasn’t won a grand slam singles match from 11 attempts.

He now holds a 2-0 record over Benneteau after beating the Frenchman at the China Open in October.

Matosevic is ranked No.61 in the world behind fellow Australians Lleyton Hewitt (No.60) and Bernard Tomic (No.51).