10 January 2017 | AAP

Australian teenager Alex De Minaur has played the game of his life to cause an upset over Frenchman Benoit Paire at the Sydney International.

Ranked 287 places below the world No.46 and playing in his second match on the men’s tour, De Minaur prevailed over a tiring Paire 6-3 3-6 7-6(1) in one hour and 44 minutes.

The 17-year-old, who was a Wimbledon junior finalist in 2016, dazzled fans through qualifying for the Brisbane International when he upset 2015 Sydney runner-up Mikhail Kukushkin.

He went down to Mischa Zverev in his tour debut, but didn’t take long to claim his first senior win on the men’s tournament in his hometown on Tuesday, fighting back from 1-3 down in the decider.

The 17-year-old was delighted with his progress and paid tribute to Australia Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, who was in the stands to witness the fine win.

“I’ve been playing some great tennis. He (Hewitt) helps me relax a bit. Just to make sure I focus on the next point,” revealed the teenager. “He’s pretty much just told me to believe.”

His round two match-up will be Andrey Kuznetsov, with the Russian leading 2-6 6-1 3-0 before Martin Klizan was forced to retire.