Jordan Thompson played an outstanding match in his Davis Cup debut, defeating Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to give hosts Australia a 1-0 lead over the Czech Republic.

Thompson strong from the beginning

It was a dream start for the Australian rookie as he broke immediately when Vesely flew a forehand long. Playing in place of the absent Bernard Tomic, Thompson would consolidate his advantage with a hold for a 2-0 lead. It would become a serving contest as both men were strong on serve for the remainder of the set.

Thompson nearly took a double break lead at 4-2 ahead when he forced Vesely to deuce, the Czech doing well to battle for a hold. The second break came in the following service game for Vesely as he wasted a 40-15 lead, Thompson mixing up his patterns, his steady play producing a forehand winner on his second set point to wrap up the opening set.

Thompson continues steady play to take commanding lead

Vesely was under continuous pressure and it nearly cost him early in the second set as Thompson held a 0-40 on the Czech's serve, but Vesely did well to save all three and hold. In the fifth game, it was the 54th-ranked Czech's turn to have a crack at the lead. He was ahead 30-40, but a forehand error cost him a shot to break.

That miss would prove to be costly as in the seventh game, Thompson built a 0-40 lead on Vesely's serve again. As he did previously, the Czech saved all three break points, but when a fourth chance was presented to him, he grabbed the lead as Vesely's forehand, unreliable in this match, let him down again. A strong serve and return on set point gave Thompson the set and a two-set lead.

Thompson closes out match to give Australia early advantage

More chances were presented to Vesely as he led 15-40 on Thompson's opening service game of the third set, but consecutive backhand errors erased that opportunity. Bypassing that chance appeared to cost Vesely dearly as he was broken to love, Thompson now in pole position to close out the rubber quickly.

Vesely had a response in the eighth game, finally breaking when Thompson, showing his first bit of nerves in the match, dumped a backhand into the net to level the set at 4-4. Undeterred, the Aussie struck back, his outstanding defense forcing another backhand miss from Vesely to take a 5-4 lead and an ace on match point confirmed his win and the Aussies had the early edge in the tie.