Rafael Nadal suffered his first round-one exit at the Australian Open as Fernando Verdasco recorded a stunning five-set win at Melbourne Park.
The Spanish left-handers produced an exhibition of hard-hitting to thrill those inside the Rod Laver Arena over four hours and 40 minutes.
Verdasco saved a break point to prevent going 3-0 down in the decider, going on to win 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 3-6 7-6 (4-7) 6-2.
In the women's draw second seed Simona Halep suffered a shock defeat.
The 24-year-old Romanian was beaten 6-4 6-3 by Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai, ranked 133rd in the world, and left the court in tears.
Zhang, who will turn 27 on Thursday, was also crying after securing her first victory in a Grand Slam at her 15th attempt
As for Verdasco, he now meets Israel's Dudi Sela after hitting 90 winners and winning six straight games to clinch victory over fifth seed Nadal.
"I played unbelievably in the fifth set," said Verdasco, 32. "I don't know how I did it. I closed my eyes and everything went in."
Verdasco, beaten by Nadal in the semi-finals in 2009, showed grit to stay in touch when his compatriot threatened to dominate.
After surrendering a 5-2 lead in the fourth set, he dug deep to win the tie-break and take the match the distance.
At 2-2 in the decider, a glorious forehand - packed with the type of power he had showed throughout the contest - put Verdasco ahead and the would number 45 never looked back.
"Wasn't that one of the most thrilling final-set performances we've ever seen? How he had the nerve to hit winner after winner was unbelievable. Phenomenal stuff from Verdasco. He was hitting the ball so hard."
Verdasco's quarter of the draw produced some drama on day two of the first Grand Slam of 2016, not least on court 19, where Jeremy Chardy beat Ernests Gulbis 13-11 in a deciding fifth set.
Frenchman Chardy, seeded 30, edged through in temperatures around 31C in Melbourne and could now meet Verdasco in round three.
Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka is in the same quarter of the draw, but he will not have to worry about an early meeting with big-serving South African Kevin Anderson.
The 29-year-old, who knocked Andy Murray out of last year's US Open, trailed American Rajeev Ram before retiring hurt in the fourth set.
Wawrinka, who plays Dmitry Tursunov later, could meet Murray at the semi-final stage if the draw goes according to seeding.
Tenth seed John Isner, one of the biggest servers in the game, is a potential threat to Murray at the quarter-final stage and slammed 37 aces as he beat Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets.
Isner is one of seven Americans in round two - the most since nine progressed in 2009 - with one more is guaranteed to progress when Jack Sock meets Taylor Harry Fritz.
Elsewhere, 13th seed Milos Raonic explained he now wears a mouthguard during matches to prevent him from grinding his teeth.
The 25-year-old, who beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille in straight sets, says grinding his teeth causes "stress and headaches", adding: "I guess maybe it's just a way to calm myself down."
In the women's draw, Garbine Muguruza, beaten by Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final last year, looked in complete control as she overcame Anett Kontaveit 6-0 6-4 in just 60 minutes.
And 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic improved on her first-round exit last year by beating wildcard Tammi Patterson 6-2 6-3.
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