Australian Open: Lucie Hradecka knocks out ‘little bit lost’ Ivanovic in 1st round

Melbourne: Fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic struggled with her serve and lost in three sets to Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka in first big upset of the Australian Open.

The former No.1-ranked Ivanovic, a finalist at the 2008 Australian Open, breezed through the first set in 21 minutes with three service breaks on Monday before No. 142-ranked Hradecka rallied to win their first-round match 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Ivanovic, who had a tour-leading 58 match wins in 2014 and started this season by reaching the final at the Brisbane International, had 10 double-faults and made 30 unforced errors and slumped to her earliest exit in a major since 2011.

"I really struggled to find my rhythm today. I was just a little bit lost. The whole match I didn't really feel like myself out there. It's probably the worst thing that could happen. But still, the year is young and I really have to now sit and work on few things and just maybe try to have a different approach to this kind of event and try to see what was lacking," Ivanovic said.

For Hradecka, it made amends for a missed opportunity in her only previous meeting with Ivanovic when she wasted a match point before losing in the first round at Wimbledon in 2009. "I was so nervous in the beginning, same at the end," said Hradeck, who has never advanced past the second round at a major. "My hand was so shaky," she added.

Three other seeded players were eliminated in early first-round matches in the women's draw, while No. 3 Simone Halep advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Karin Knapp of Italy. Caroline Garcia beat No. 27 and two-time major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-2, Kristina Mladenovic beat No. 28 Sabine Lisicki 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and Julia Goerges routed No. 32 Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-1.

No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov opened with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win over Dustin Brown 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, No. 29 Jeremy Chardy beat Borna Coric 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 and No. 32 Martin Klizan had a 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-4 win over Tatsuma Ito of Japan.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal eased past Russian Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets to successfully negotiate the opening round. The Spanish world number three, recovering from injury, downed Youzhny 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 1hr 50min and will next play either Australian Luke Saville or American Tim Smyczek.