Refusing to panic, Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki insist they remain Australian Open contenders despite making premature exits from the Sydney International.
Radwanska slipped up 7-5 6-3 against American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands, marking the first time in the professional era that the women's champion has bombed out in her opening match of her title defence.
Wozniacki, the sixth seed, followed her out the exit gates later on Tuesday with a 6-4 7-6 (9-7) second-round loss to Czech Lucie Safarova.
Radwanska is adamant she remains an Open threat despite having not won a competitive match since October and also seemingly carrying a shoulder injury.
The world No.5 received treatment on her serving shoulder during last week's Hopman Cup in Perth and, while loath to blame the injury for her loss to the 48th-ranked Mattek-Sands, admitted it was still bothering her.
"Maybe a little bit, but I have good painkillers," Radwanska said.
The non-sanctioned Hopman Cup aside, Radwanska hasn't won a set - let alone a match - in more than two months after also losing all three of her round-robin encounters at the season-ending championships in Istanbul.
The former Wimbledon runner-up's run of outs is a far cry from last year when the Pole arrived at Melbourne Park for the season's first grand slam riding a nine-match winning streak after picking up back-to-back titles in Auckland and Sydney.
But the 24-year-old isn't concerned, claiming four wins at the Hopman Cup exhibition event is proof enough she's not playing badly.
"Every week is different story. You start over and over again," Radwanska said.
"You're not winning every week every match. I think just couple of guys can do it."
Wozniacki was the last Sydney champion not to win a match in her title defence - back in 2011 - but insisted her latest defeat was no setback ahead of the Open getting underway in Melbourne on Monday.
"I played two matches here then I get a few days over there and get to play a few sets as well with some of the girls and with different types players," the Dane said.
"Yeah, I should be ready for Melbourne."
Mattek-Sands' surprise second-round win - after she beat higher-ranked Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and Radwanska enjoyed a first-round bye - thrust her into a quarter-final with fellow American Madison Keys, a 6-0 3-6 7-6 (7-4) victor over Croatian wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic.
Czech second seed Petra Kvitova and German fifth seed Angelique Kerber avoided the carnage to safely progress to the quarter-finals.
Kvitova thrashed US qualifier Christine McHale 6-1 6-0 in one hour neat to book a last-eight date with Safarova, while Kerber downed big-hitting Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-4 to set up a quarter-final with Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro.
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