The Sydney International continued to be a graveyard for some of the top names in women's tennis with champion and top seed Agnieszka Radwanska and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki both losing in the second round.
Men's champion Bernard Tomic, however, followed up the exploits of fellow Australian Marko Matosevic, who earlier beat Florian Mayer 6-2 4-6 6-3, to demolish eighth seed Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-0 in just under an hour.
Radwanska and Wozniacki followed grand slam champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone and former world number one Jelena Jankvoic as early evictees from the tournament.
Radwanska's title defence lasted just 92 minutes when she was dumped out 7-5 6-2 by American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands, while Wozniacki, who struggled in her first round match on Monday, was beaten 6-4 7-6 (9-7) by Lucie Safarova.
World number five Radwanska had won the Sydney title last year as part of a 13-match unbeaten streak that ended in the Australian Open quarter-finals said she was not overly concerned with her early loss.
“I really had a lot of good matches last week,” the 24-year-old added in reference to winning all three matches at the Hopman Cup in Perth last week.
“It’s not like I’m playing bad. I’m not worried about that. I just think not my day . . . sometimes you have to lose.”
Wozniacki, who missed the Brisbane tournament last week with a sore shoulder, said she was feeling fine today but had failed to win the crucial points in the clash against Safarova.
“I felt like it was pretty good today. It was small things that I didn’t win,” the Dane said.
“I don’t feel anything in my shoulder anymore. It’s great. I’ve felt good for the last few days.
“I played two matches here then I get a few days over there (Melbourne) and get to play a few sets as well with some of the girls and with different types players.
“I should be ready for Melbourne.”
Lleyton Hewitt took a different approach to being ready for the Australian Open by withdrawing from the invitational Kooyong Classic tournament in Melbourne.
The 32-year-old caused a major upset at the Brisbane International defeating Roger Federer in the final on Sunday and he said he felt he would need the week off to recover properly for the season-opening grand slam.
“At the moment it’s just all about recovery for me,” Hewitt explained. “When you get older it gets a bit tougher than when you were 16.
“We’re going into the first major and you’ve got to do what’s absolutely right for you.”
