Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic admitted she was in need of a new approach after becoming the biggest casualty on day one of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
– #Quiz360: WIN a six-month Target Gym membership
– Maria Sharapova eyeing world No1 ranking at Australian Open
Ivanovic looked to be in charge of her match with Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka on Rod Laver Arena when she took the first set 6-1, but won just five more games in a 6-1 3-6 2-6 defeat.
Maria Sharapova and Eugenie Bouchard safely advanced to the second round, but ninth seed Angelique Kerber was one of eight seeds to make an early exit from the bottom half of the draw.
Since Wimbledon in 2001, when the number of seeds increased from 16 to 32, the most seeds to lose in the first round of a grand slam is 11.
Ivanovic reached the quarter-finals here last year and came into the event on the back of reaching the final of the recent WTA Tour event in Brisbane.
But the 27-year-old Serbian has now failed to reach a single grand slam semi-final in 27 attempts since winning the French Open in 2008.
“I think the whole match I didn’t really feel like myself out there,” the former world number one said. “It was really tough for me to find my rhythm.
“There is always nerves in the beginning. I felt like I was maybe lacking a little bit of practice this week, I had some issues. But I played okay in the beginning. I just felt second and third set I really dropped my level.
“But still, the year is young and I really have to now sit and work on a few things and just maybe try to have a different approach to this kind of event and try to see what was lacking.”
World number 142 Hradecka could hardly comprehend what she had achieved, adding: “I still don’t believe that it’s true. Probably in a couple of hours I will know that I am in the second round in Australian Open and I beat Ana. It’s two hours after the match and I’m still smiling.”
Kerber was beaten 6-4 0-6 6-1 by Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, while there were also defeats for Belinda Bencic, former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki.
Third seed Simona Halep lost the first two games of her match with Italy’s Karin Knapp but bounced back to win 6-3 6-2, while second seed Sharapova beat Petra Martic 6-4 6-1 and Bouchard defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2 6-4.
Sharapova said she was well aware of the number of seeds being beaten and was determined not to become another casualty.
“I think especially from the media and the press side, you always talk about the match-ups, the draw, as in the future opponents. Realistically it’s important to focus on what’s ahead you. You can’t look further than your next opponent.
“I think we all take that extremely serious. You never know what you’re going to get. You get really inspired opponents that are not seeded in the first round or that are coming from qualifying, and everyone’s eager to do well in this type of environment.