Samantha Stosur was unable to disguise her anguish after suffering yet another Australian Open flop in Melbourne.
"You get a bit sick of this feeling," Stosur said after being consigned to the most miserable summer of her otherwise decorated 15-year career.
Britain's Heather Watson sent the out-of-sorts Australian No.1 packing on Tuesday with a rollercoaster 6-2 3-6 6-0 first-round victory on Tuesday.
The defeat was Stosur's ninth in a row and followed round-one exits in Brisbane and Sydney, leaving the fallen grand slam champion winless over an Australian summer for the first time since her Melbourne Park debut as a teenager back in 2002.
The deflating defeat also leaves Stosur in danger of relinquishing her Australian No.1 ranking for the first time in eight years.
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But, despite turning 33 in March, the world No.21 has no plans to throw in the towel.
"I still feel like I've got good tennis in me," the one-time world No.4 defiantly said.
"I don't feel like it was all bad today or it was a big disaster.
"I know there's obviously things I need to improve. I need to do it quickly, work out a few things.
(But) I do feel like it's still possible for me."
Stosur made a confident enough start on Tuesday.
The veteran showed great speed and touch to mow down a crosscourt drop and flick a backhand lob winner over Watson's head on the way to breaking Watson Brit in the second game.
But she lost six of the next seven games in an all-too-familiar collapse to drop the first set in the blink of an eye.
Stosur again broke Watson early in the second to go 2-0 up before surviving a marathon seventh game in which she saved a series of break points to surge to 5-2.
The hold proved pivotal as she closed out the second set with a signature one-two punch, pounding a serve wide and delivering an off-forehand winner to draw back on level terms.
Alas for Stosur, she lost a series of epic games in the deciding set to bow out after two-and-a-quarter hours.
"It's one of those things. You're disappointed, you're upset, angry, what could I have done?" Stosur said.
Stosur's best runs at her home slam remain fourth-round showings in 2006 and 2010, while she's now won just four matches in Melbourne in the past six years.
But after rebounding from a first-round defeat last year to make the French Open semi-finals for a fourth time, the Queenslander is adamant she can do so again.
I've done it before. I've done it many times before," Stosur said.
"That's kind of the outlook I have to take.
"I mean, that's certainly one that's going to make me feel better rather than going home and sulking for the next six months."
