”It sucks to lose in the second round – it would be nice to go further and keep winning and get on a bit of a roll, but at the same time it was a very close match and I still don’t feel like I played my best tennis. I played good in some parts but there are still a lot of parts that have a lot to improve. So that’s … pretty positive, I think.”

Ebden has been knocked out in the first round of the Australian Open in his past two hit-outs at the grand slam event, but the West Australian is hopeful of improving on his record next week.

The draw is going to play a big part in determining his fortunes but the 24-year-old believes he has what it takes to progress through to the second week of the tournament. ”That’s going to mean I’ll get through three or four matches, which is not easy,” he said.

”It’s obviously very disappointing, I’m not going to lie to you,” Ebden said. ”But you have to sort of accept it a bit and realise that probably only one guy is leaving the tournament without losing a match.

”I could run into all sorts of seeds but I think I’ll show I’m capable to play at that really high level. With the training I’ve done to prolong that high level, if I can sustain that over long periods of time in five-set matches, I think I can be dangerous.”

Ebden broke Baghdatis’s second service game of the match and raced to a 5-2 lead in the opening set. Then Baghdatis held serve and looked like hitting back, setting up three break points.

But Ebden didn’t give up hope and played some wonderful tennis to win the next five points to take the game and the first set 6-3. Baghdatis admitted he was slow out of the blocks but the enthusiasm and ability of the Australian in front of a home crowd was a bit of a shock.

”I saw him play before but it’s a different thing playing against a player,” he said. ”Yeah, in the beginning he was pretty pumped up and he played really well but, you know, I started very slow myself.

”So, yeah, he did [surprise me] a bit, but I think if I started a bit better, then he would go down a bit.”

Down 4-2 in the second set, Ebden broke back and was looking the goods before double faulting to hand Baghdatis the set.

”That game was terrible. I was up 30-0 in that game and looking good. Obviously up a set, I was pretty confident. I threw the ball up and before I knew it, it was down in my face almost,” he said.

The pair went tit-for-tat in the deciding set, forcing the match into a tie-breaker. But it was the experienced Baghdatis who prevailed to set up a quarter-final showdown with No.1 seed and world No.11 Juan Martin Del Potro on centre court tonight.