Defending champion Alicia Molik left the court in tears as she retired losing 6-3, 4-2 to Serbian Jelena Jankovic in the Zurich Open first round on Tuesday.
The eighth seeded Australian succumbed to an ear infection she has had since March and which has left her with just one win in seven tournaments since returning to the tour in August.
There was better news for Swiss sixth-seed Patty Schnyder who took just 50 minutes to sweep aside weary Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-1, 6-3 and reach the second round.
Schnyder took advantage of an opponent who had only recently arrived from Thailand, where she reached the singles semi-finals and won the doubles title with partner Shinobu Asagoe.
Japan's Asagoe also lost 6-4, 7-6 to Slovenian qualifier Katarina Srebotnik, who next faces second seed Amelie Mauresmo.
Dulko, playing with her left leg heavily bandaged, failed to hold serve in the first set but competed much better in the rallies in the second.
A winning return and then a double-fault opened the door for the Swiss left-hander at 3-2, however, and the 2002 Zurich champion went on to earn the only break of the set.
Dulko continued to compete well, holding two break points at 4-2, but Schnyder was solid in all areas of her game as she moved on to a comfortable victory.
"I'm happy with the way it worked out," said Schnyder, "but I think I still have some timing issues to improve to feel more comfortable.
"I was happy with the returns and serving so that was good, but I would still like to feel more comfortable in the rallies."
NUMBER ONE: Daniela Hantuchova had to battle hard to overcome Japanese qualifier and doubles partner Ai Sugiyama, needing four match points to close out a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Top seeded Lindsay Davenport will face the 19th-ranked Slovak in her opening match, knowing victory will secure her the number one ranking for the eighth time in her career.
"It's been another great year," said Davenport, who plays Hantuchova on Thursday. "I'm very proud of the level of consistency that I have shown throughout my career.
"It's not easy. I think I've been in the top three since '97 except for when I was injured, and it's not simple at all to stay up there.
"So I take a lot of pride in that. I'm happy with the way the year went. I did everything I could to win the Grand Slams. It didn't happen but I feel I rebounded well from that and I'm still going strong."
Nathalie Dechy of France also had a fight on her hands against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The Russian has struggled this year, falling in the first round of the US Open after winning the title there in 2004, but she showed an encouraging resilience against Dechy before conceding the two hour 19-minute battle 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.
Ana Ivanovic took exactly the same amount of time to beat Tatiana Golovin of France 6-4 5-7 7-5.
The 17-year-old held three match points at 5-3, 40-0 in the second set before losing the next four games. The Serbian also surrendered a 3-0 lead in the final set and was broken serving for the match at 5-3 before breaking again to seal victory.
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