Sania Mirza crashed out of the $170,000 Moorilla Hobart International with a heart-breaking quarterfinal loss to Italian Flavia Pennetta here on Wednesday.
The sixth-seeded Indian went down 5-7, 6-1, 3-6 to Pennetta in the Tier IV hardcourt event.
Sania wasted seven of the 12 breakpoints she got against the Italian, who later admitted that her job was made easier by the Indian’s poor form.
Second seed Vera Zvonareva advanced to the semifinals of the Hobart International with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Russian compatriot Elena Vesnina, adds Reuters.
Bhupathi loses
Meanwhile, doubles ace Mahesh Bhupathi also crashed out of the USD 4,65,000 Medibank International after going down in straight sets in the first round in Sydney.
Bhupathi, partnering with Mark Knowles of Bahamas, lost 4-6, 4-6 to the Czech pair of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
Ferrer wins
David Ferrer showed his determination to retain the Auckland Open title by winning both his first and second round matches, reports Reuters from Wellington.
Forced to play two games because rain on Tuesday allowed just three matches to be played, the world No 5 easily accounted for Spanish compatriot Oscar Hernandez 6-1 6-2 before beating Argentine Sergio Roitman 6-1, 7-6.
Roddick through
American Andy Roddick produced his customary fast start to the year, crushing Ivan Ljubicic on the opening day of the Kooyong Classic in a warm-up event for next week's Australian Open, adds Reuters from Melbourne.
The world number six, who has won the title at Kooyong in each of the past two years, was totally dominant as he raced to a 6-3, 6-0 victory over the Croatian.
Former world number one Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and Chilean Fernando Gonzalez also won on day one of the eight-man exhibition event.
Roddick will now play Safin for a place in the final after the Russian impressed in a 6-1, 6-4 win over Briton Andy Murray, who won the title in Doha last weekend.
Henin advances
Justine Henin made a belated start to her build-up for next week's Australian Open by thumping Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-0 in the Sydney International, adds Reuters from Sydney.
Henin's next opponent will be Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, who beat Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Svetlana Kuznetsova is lurking on the other side.  The Russian world No 2 beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-0.