Tennis: Home hope Samantha Stosur was the first major casualty at the Australian Open, the US Open champion being dumped out in straight sets by Sorana Cirstea. The Australian was her own worst enemy as she slumped to a 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 defeat against the Romanian.
The number six 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 - with Stosur failing to make in past the fourth round since her debut in 2002.
And Cirstea, a former French Open quarter-finalist, added to her misery as she sealed victory in 91 minutes. 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."
Stosur's defeat was perhaps not totally unexpected, following as it did hot on the heels of a second-round exit in Brisbane and a first-round loss in Sydney.
Stosur said: "I am extremely disappointed. It's certainly not what I wanted, not just this tournament but the whole (Australian) summer. I think it was one of those matches where I wasn't taking charge and she was playing super aggressive. She would either hit great balls or could miss by a long way.
"She hung in there and kept going for it and eventually got better and better. She played a very, very good match and you have to give credit where it's due."
As for the pressure on her shoulders coming into the event, she added: "There's probably nothing greater than my own expectation.
"I really, really wanted to do well here and over the summer and I did everything I could to try to give myself a good opportunity. But it obviously didn't happen.
It was much easier for title favourite Petra Kvitova, who opened her campaign with a thumping 6-2 6-0 victory over Vera Dushevina.After a slow start in soaring temperatures, the Wimbledon champion made short work of Dushevina to send a strong warning to her challengers.
Dushevina made the perfect start by holding serve and breaking Kvitova for a 2-0 lead, but from there on in it was all about the 21-year-old Czech as she moved through the gears.
Kvitova, seeded second, did not drop a game for the rest of the match as she easily pushed the Russian around the court and capitalised on her loose play.
When the Dushevina did find a gap, Kvitova's long reach closed it, notably as she lunged seemingly halfway across the court to return a volley to break and take a 3-0 lead in the second set.
Dushevina only won six points in the remainder of the match as Kvitova booked her place in the next round.
"After a slow start it was fine," Kvitova said. "But I can improve my serve for sure. The score looks easy but it wasn't, the games were very close and I am glad I am through."
Maria Sharapovawas also at her ruthless best - she lost just one game en route to the second round. The number four seed, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2008, needed less than an hour to account for Argentina's Gisela Dulko6-0 6-1 in stifling conditions on the Hisense Arena.
Despite fears over her fitness coming into the tournament following the ankle injury that forced her out of the Brisbane International, Sharapova quickly got into her stride.
The Russian wrapped up the first set in just 25 minutes and had rattled off eight games on the bounce before Dulko finally got onto the scoreboard.
However despite losing her serve, Sharapova broke back immediately before seeing out the match.
"I knew I had a tough opponent today," said Sharapova, who registered 14 winners. "I focused on every point and took her time away - she's a player who loves time on the ball."
Sharapova will now take on US qualifier Jamie Hamptonin the second round.
Things were not so easy for Russian stars Vera Zvonarevaand Svetlana Kuznetsova. Both players required three sets to progress in hot conditions, hardly the ideal start to the campaign.
Seventh seed Zvonareva took three hours and 15 minutes to see off battling Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru.
The former Wimbledon and US Open finalist eventually prevailed 7-6 (7/4) 6-7 (5/7) 6-3.
Kuznetsova, who has vowed to be aggressive as she looks to add the Australian crown to previous success at the French and US Opens, was not on court as long, but was still taken to a third set by Chanelle Scheepers.
The 18th seed looked in a spot of bother when she lost the second set but she refocused and pulled away in the decider to win 6-3 3-6 6-0.
The two Russians will meet in the last eight if both continue to progress through the draw.
Another of the title outsiders, France's Marion Bartoli, was a straight-sets winner over compatriot Virginie Razzano.
Seeded nine, Bartoli struggled early on but recovered to win 7-5 6-0.
That next match will be against Australia's Jelena Dokicafter she crushed former top-10 star Anna Chakvetadze6-2 6-1.
Bartoli's fellow seeds Maria Kirilenko, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Roberta Vinci and Kaia Kanepialso recorded straight-sets victories.
Germany's Sabine Lisicki,seeded 14, had to dig deeper, though, before seeing off Stefanie Voegele6-2 4-6 6-4.