Australian firebrand Jordan Thompson has fallen short of booking a third-round Australian Open berth, losing a tense battle with Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas.

After setting tongues wagging with his “woke” first-round jibe at the Open’s new crowd policy, Thompson took it to the 2023 Melbourne Park runner-up before losing 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 7-6 (7-4) on Wednesday night.

Tsitsipas punched the air and roared “come on” after triumphing over the 29-year-old Sydneysider on Margaret Court Arena in three hours and 36 minutes.

“I forgot,” the No.7 seed said of his failure to convert two match points and saving four set points in the frantic final games.

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“At this very moment, I only remember the last point. The adrenaline and the rush that I got out of this match was insane.

“You live for these kind of matches. Jordan didn’t stop fighting. I was serving for the match. He had an incredible comeback.”

Thompson hit the ground running in his bid to join countryman Alex de Minaur in the third round, winning almost 90 per cent of his first serves on his way to clinching the first set.

Unfazed, Tsitsipas dug deep to win the second set in a tiebreak at the fourth time of asking and claimed the ascendancy early in the third.

A pair of curious seagulls briefly interrupted play as Tsitsipas tried to serve out the third set, with Thompson allowing him to take his first serve again.

The Australian repeatedly gestured to his box as the game began to slip away in the fourth set, before he saved two match points on Tsitsipas’ serve at 5-4.

Thompson, who beat 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal on his path to the Brisbane International semi-finals, held serve and had four chances to force a fifth and deciding set but couldn’t convert, before losing the tiebreak.

Tsitsipas next faces Frenchman Luca Van Assche, a 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-0 winner over Italian No.25 seed Lorenzo Musetti.

-AAP