American Madison Brengle has fallen victim to the first real upset of the ASB Classic, falling to Chinese Lin Zhu in the opening rounds of singles at Auckland.
The tournament sixth seed seemed well in control, after winning the first set 6-4, but her grip on the contest seemed to slip even before rain forced players from the court during the second set, with Zhu already up a service break.
Ranked 57th in the world, Brengle broke back after play resumed and took an early lead in the tiebreak, before crumbled to concede the second set to Zhu, who then outlasted her rival 6-4 in the third for victory, and a spot in the second round against either tennis legend Venus Williams or American qualifer Katie Volynets.
Third seed Laylah Fernandez and eight seed Rebecca Marino, both from Canada, fared better than Brengle in their opening encounters, with Fernandez dispatching teenaged Czech prodigy Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-1 6-1 in little more than an hour.
"Sweet as," beamed the US Open finalist, who has clearly mastered the local vernacular.
"Today was definitely a hard match for me, the first match of the year. I wanted to do well in front of the New Zealand crowd and I was happy to put on a good show for everyone."
Marino needed a second-set tiebreaker to dispatch Italian Delma Galfi and will now take on Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure in the second round.
Fan favourite Williams had to battle back after a lengthy rain delay, finally overcoming fellow Volynets 7-6(4) 6-2 late into the night and booking a meeting with Zhu in the second round.
Meanwhile, Kiwi Erin Routliffe and American Catherine Dolehide, seeded No.1 in doubles, crashed out to Mexican Fernanda Contreras Gomez and American Catherine Harrison 7-5 6-4
The fourth-seeded American doubles combination of Sophie Chang and Angela Kulikov were also bundled out early by Brazilian Ingrid Gamarra Martins and American Ingrid Neel in a 10-6 super tiebreak.
The second day of play will see tournament favourite Coco Gauff and second seed Sloane Stephens in action on centrecourt, with Routliffe in singles and fellow Kiwi Paige Hourigan doubles.
Order of play for Tuesday at the ASB Classic:
Stadium Court
2pm start
Pera (USA) v V. Kuzmova (CZE) - Suspended due to rain on day one
Raducanu (UK) v Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic)
1-Gauff (USA) v Maria (Germany)
Masarova (Spain) v 2-Stephens (USA)
Wang (China) v Kenin (USA)
Grandstand Court
1:30pm start
Cociaretto (Italy) v Blinkova
Routliffe (NZ) v Ruse (Romania)
5-Wang (China) v Muchova (Czech Republic)
Zidansek (Slovenia) v Davis (USA)
Hibino (Japan) v 7-Kovinic (Montenegro)
Court One
3pm start
Kuzmova (Slovak Republic)/Rus (Netherlands) v Brengle (USA)/Marino (Canada)
Martincova (Czech Republic)/Ruse (Romania) v Hourigan (NZ)/Vickery (USA)
Join us at 1:30pm Tuesday for live updates of the ASB Classic second day
