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Daria Saville was left to despair missed opportunities in her first-round loss to Anna Blinkova, with no Australians celebrating victory on day one of the Open.
Veteran Daria Saville has suffered more grand slam heartbreak as she joined a local exodus on day one of the Australian Open.
Saville and Queenslander Adam Walton were still in action after midnight on a rain-marred day at Melbourne Park but both fell short, with Omar Jasika and Li Tu earlier home casualites.
Saville fell to Russian world No.73 Anna Blinkova, going down 1-6 6-4 7-5 while Walton was at the wrong end of a marathon match against Frenchman Quentin Halys, losing 4-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.
Battling her way back from serious knee and Achilles injuries, Saville was contemplating retirement after her first-round US Open exit last year and desperate for a morale-boosting win after dropping to world 112.
She showed she still has plenty to give in a spirited showing on Margaret Court Arena, but let Blinkova off the hook, only able to convert three of 15 break point opportunities.
After storming through the first set, at 3-3 in the second the former Australian No.1 had four break points but couldn't budge her rival.
In the third set she had another eight and was only able to bag one.
It allowed her to go up 3-1 but she then let Blinkova level at 3-3 after she sent down two double faults.
Trailing 5-6, Saville then lost her serve for the Russian to wrap up the match.
World No.90 Walton stormed to a two-set lead over Halys, who is ranked 74, but the Frenchman worked his way into the match, which lasted three hours and 38 minutes.
Halys sent down 31 aces and 88 winners, which were key to the win.
Vying for his first victory at a major, local wildcard Li Tu pushed Czech 24th seed Jiri Lehecka in their first-round clash.
The Adelaide-born 28-year-old was at his counter-punching best, winning the second set and forcing a fourth-set tiebreak, but was ultimately outclassed in the big moments to fall 6-1 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-1).
Lehecka's second-round opponent will be Frenchman Hugo Gaston, who dispatched former wunderkind Omar Jasika 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-2.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms forced the pair off Court 3 for more than six hours as Jasika was threatening to turn the tide early in the second set.
When play got under way after 6pm, the 27-year-old wildcard immediately broke the world No.81 to send the tennis-deprived home crowd into raptures and went on to claim the second set.
But as the match wore on, Gaston acclimatised to Jasika's unconventional game, smashing 55 winners to steamroll into the second round.
Jasika famously became the first player in 28 years to win the US Open boys' singles and doubles titles in 2014, and two years later reached the second round of the Australian Open.
But his quest for senior tour success was derailed late in 2018 when he was banned for two years after testing positive to cocaine.
He spent time working in a factory and in a bar, watching the careers of his peers progress, before returning to the grand-slam stage in Melbourne last year.
Jasika said he preferred to "stay in his line" when asked about the severity of doping infringement penalties handed to superstars Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner.
But the Victorian said he was extremely grateful to tournament organisers for his wildcard, and planned to use it to invest back into his tennis.
"Hopefully, I can have a career high this year and try and break into the top 100," he said.
"That's the goal for me, for sure."