Seeds Andrea Petkovic and Jelena Jankovic crashed out in the opening round of the Brisbane International yesterday.
German fifth seed Petkovic fell at the first hurdle when she was beaten 4-6 7-5 4-6 by Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, who won the 2012 event.
Jankovic was also sent packing from the tournament – a traditional warm-up event for the Australian Open, which gets under way on January 19 – as Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic secured a 7-6 (8/6) 6-0 victory over the sixth seed in one hour and 45 minutes.
Seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro succeeded where Petkovic and Jankovic failed as she recovered from going a set down to earn a 3-6 6-2 6-1 win over Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina had a much more straightforward passage to the second round as she wrapped up a 6-0 6-2 win against Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in 68 minutes.
Home favourite Samantha Stosur’s interest in the tournament was ended by Varvara Lepchenko, who fought back from a set down to win 4-6 6-4 7-5 in two-and-a-half hours.