Montpellier, France, 8 February 2018 | AP

John Millman has advanced to the last 16 of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.

The 28-year-old Queenslander caused an upset when he eliminated No.8 seed Yuichi Sugita in three sets.

The victory sets up a last-16 clash with Frenchman Benoit Paire, who earlier overcame Mischa Zverev in his opening-round match.

After losing the first set 7-5, Millman took the next two sets 6-3 and 6-4.

The win took the world No.109’s record in 2018 to 4-3.

Meanwhile top-seeded David Goffin of Belgium reached the quarterfinals by beating French veteran Gilles Simon 6-4 6-2.

The 33-year-old Simon had won two of their three previous matches but dropped his serve six times.

Sixth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev joined Goffin in the last eight with a 6-2 6-1 win against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

In remaining first-round play, fifth-seeded Richard Gasquet of France swept aside Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-0 6-3.

Gasquet did not face a break point and next plays Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who won 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-4 against Kenny De Schepper in an all-French match.

Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium took only 50 minutes to beat French wildcard entry Calvin Hemery 6-1 6-2.