Laura Robson & Heather Watson
Laura Robson and Heather Watson were beaten as British interest in the women's singles ended swiftly at the Australian Open.
Both players took on higher-ranked opposition in the first round, but the manner of their defeats differed sharply.
Robson spent just 50 minutes on court in a 6-3 6-0 thrashing by 18th seed Kirsten Flipkens - the Briton's first full match of the season following a wrist injury.
Watson, in contrast, kept 31st seed
Daniela Hantuchova occupied for two hours and 34 minutes before going
down 7-5 3-6 6-3 to the Slovakian.
With both Robson and Watson scheduled among the opening matches, it took less than three hours for
Andy Murray to be left as the lone Briton in singles competition.
Robson, who turns 20 next week, arrived in Melbourne with a wrist injury but said before the match that it was no longer causing her any pain.
A lack of match sharpness was certainly clear from the outset on Court Three, as she opened with four straight errors to drop serve and lost the first nine points in a row.
There was a big cheer for the Australian-born Robson when she finally got on the board but Flipkens, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, was much the stronger.
Robson simply could not find her range and racked up 32 errors to her opponent's four as she lost eight straight games and became the first player to go out of the tournament.
"It was up and down the whole time, and I don't think I ever really got into a rhythm at all," said Robson.
"I wasn't really able to deal with her slice that well. It just didn't go well. I definitely expected to play better, but it happens.
"And I didn't really have any expectations going in because I didn't know what it was going to be like out there."
While Robson trooped unhappily back to the locker room, Watson was only just getting going on the nearby Court Two against Hantuchova.
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