Samantha Stosur was the first major casualty at the Australian Open after the home hope was dumped out in straight sets by Sorana Cirstea.
The US Open champion was her own worst enemy as she slumped to a 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 defeat against the Romanian.
Stosur, the No.6 seed, was guilty of making 33 unforced errors and was on the back foot for long periods.
Stosur had been aiming to become Australia’s first women’s champion since Chris O’Neil beat Betsy Nagelsen in 1978.
However the 27-year-old has never looked comfortable dealing with the expectations at Melbourne Park, failing to make in past the fourth round since her debut in 2002 and looked a shadow of the woman who took the scalp of Serena Williams in last year’s final at Flushing Meadows.
Cirstea, who has never made it beyond the second round in Melbourne, took the first set on a tie-break and then broke Stosur to love in the opening game of the second.
Stosur finally began to find her range and a beautifully powerful cross-court sweep set her up to break back, and despite a double fault, she held her serve in the next game to lead 2-1.However, that was the last real occasion the vocal Australian crowd had reason to cheer.
Rather than capitulating to her higher-ranked opponent, Cirstea dug deep and fought back with brilliant execution.
The 21-year-old, who impressed with her looping forehands and work at the net, finally clinched her place in the second round with her fourth match point.
“Probably the whole of Australia hates me right now,” Cirstea said.
“I think everyone was talking about her and they were forgetting about me.”