Toasting first round success had been expected of Sam Stosur at the Brisbane International.
Unfortunately for the former US Open champion, Stosur could only raise a glass for fellow "Aussie" Ajla Tomljanovic in an upset-hit women's first round on Sunday.
Stosur, 29, joined the chorus of approval for Croatian-born wildcard Tomljanovic after she pulled off what appeared to be the boilover of the tournament - a straight sets first round win over sixth seed and former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic.
However, American left-hander Varvara Lepchenko later had a crack at the title after overcoming a 5-1 third set deficit to overwhelm world No.22 Stosur 4-6 6-4 7-5 at a shellshocked Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday night.
Still, ex-world No.4 Stosur found time to reflect on the triumph of Tomljanovic who flies the Australian flag at grand slams after receiving residency.
"To step up and keep playing and do what she was doing, it was obviously a very good win," Stosur said of world No.62 Tomljanovic's 7-6 (8-6) 6-0 sensational victory.
Unfortunately Stosur is an expert on boilovers.
In five outings Stosur has never moved past the Brisbane International second round.
And her best Australian Open finish is the fourth round.
Yet Stosur could still find positives after what appeared to be yet another meltdown amid public expectation before flying out for her final pre-Australian Open hit-out - the Sydney International starting on January 11.
"There is lots of good things that I can take away from that - I feel like it has been a major improvement on some of my other first rounds in Australia," she said.
Asked if she beat herself up, Stosur said: "No. I feel like I did nearly everything correct."
Stosur jumped to a 5-1 lead in the third set and had a match point the next game, only to be denied on a Hawk-Eye challenge with Lepchenko winning the replayed point.
"If I had won that point, I win 6-1 in the third and we would all be thinking different things and it would be happy days - there were such fine margins in this," Stosur said.
Estonia's Kaia Kanepi - the 2012 Brisbane champion - also held out fifth-seeded German Andrea Petkovic 6-4 5-7 6-4.
However, Spanish seventh seed Carla Suarez Navarro bucked the trend when she downed Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6 6-2 6-1.
In women's first round action on Monday, Australian wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova will tackle China's Shuai Zhang.
In men's opening round play, James Duckworth tackles French sixth seed Gilles Simon, fellow wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis faces eighth-seeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau and the other Aussie Bernard Tomic battles American Sam Querrey.
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