Terrific Bernard Tomic downs Frances Tiafoe in Atlanta upset

Enigmatic Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic has progressed through to the second round of the Atlanta Open after defeating American Frances Tiafoe in three sets.

Tomic, ranked 106th in the world, defeated the fifth seed 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in one hour and 48 minutes on Tuesday.

In good signs for the Australian, Tomic fired 20 aces against his American opponent, and was clinical in a nerve-wracking third set tiebreaker.

The win makes for a refreshing change, after a headline-making first round defeat at Wimbledon.

He will now meet compatriot Matthew Ebden, who defeated Polish qualifier Kamil Majchrzak 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 on Thursday.

Tomic told reporters he did not make make any drastic changes to his game against the world No. 41 in their first-ever encounter.

"That's how I play - I always try to do something different," he said.

Australian third seed Alex de Minaur received a first-up bye and will play Bradley Klahn in the round of 16 on Wednesday while the up-and-coming 19-year-old Alexei Popyrin will face French fourth seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert for a place in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, world No.55 Daniel Evans was too strong for Jason Jung, defeating the Taiwanese qualifier 6-1 6-1.