Australian Open 2019: Heather Watson and Harriet Dart left in tears after first round defeats

On a day of glorious sunshine, with the temperature reaching 36C, both Britons were under a cloud and lost within 90 minutes of the start of play

Sharapova made short work of Dart (Getty Images)

Andy Murray has clearly set a trend for his fellow Britons. Three days after the former world No 1 was overcome by emotion as he announced his impending retirement, Heather Watson and Harriet Dart were also reduced to tears as the Australian Open got underway here on Monday.

On a day of glorious sunshine, with the temperature reaching 36C, both Britons were under a cloud and lost within 90 minutes of the start of play. Watson, who was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Petra Martic, was the tournament’s very first loser and was quickly followed through the exit door by Dart, who was thumped 6-0, 6-0 by Maria Sharapova.

Watson’s day began badly enough with the latest world rankings showing that she had again fallen out of the top 100. It did not improve out on Court 14 against Martic, who is enjoying the best run of her career. The 27-year-old Croatian won her first WTA title in Chicago four months ago and reached a career-high position of No 31 in the world rankings last week.

Martic, looking confident from the start and making fewer errors than her opponent, dropped only 11 points in winning the first set in just 26 minutes. Having gone 2-0 down in the second set, Watson called for the doctor, saying that she felt anxious. Although she won two of the next four games, the match was over after little more than an hour.

“I have been feeling a bit anxious, wanting to do well,” a tearful Watson said afterwards. “It was hot out there and you cannot be tense. I felt faint and a bit dizzy on court. It’s not the first time it has happened. It happens quite a lot, especially in these conditions and when it’s high stress.”

Watson broke into the world’s top 40 four years ago but has now dropped out of the top 100 for the third time since then, having only just made the cut-off for the main draw here. This was her eighth consecutive appearance in this tournament but she has now gone out in the first round in five of the last six years.

“I cannot continue like this,” she said. “Tennis is lots of ups and downs. At the moment it’s not clicking. I didn’t enjoy that.”

Dart’s only previous Grand Slam experience had been as a wild card at Wimbledon last summer, when she was beaten in three sets by Karolina Pliskova in the first round.

Having reached the main draw here by winning three successive matches in qualifying, the 22-year-old Londoner had the honour of opening the tournament in Rod Laver Arena, which is the main show court here.

However, the experience of playing her childhood idol quickly became a painful one for Dart. Hitting the ball with power and precision, Sharapova crushed her opponent in just 63 minutes.

Dart hit some sweet backhands, but her forehand lacked penetration and her weak second serve was ruthlessly punished by the 31-year-old Russian. Dart struggled throughout to cope with the sheer weight of the former champion’s shots.

The only moment when Sharapova looked at all flustered was when she was given a time violation for taking too long between points in the first set.

Watson was beaten in straight sets (Getty Images)

Dart had only one game point in the whole match, but missed a backhand with Sharapova serving at 6-0, 4-0 and 30-40. The world No 131 saved Sharapova’s first two match points but missed a backhand volley on the third before leaving the court in tears.

“It was always going to be a difficult match, especially on such a big court,” Dart said at her post-match press conference, when her emotions were still evident. “She’s got a lot more experience than me, but I came through qualifying, so that's something to be positive about.”

She added: “I think I carried myself well out there, played all right and won more points than I thought I had. I was just unfortunate not to get on the board, but this happens. Next time I'll be a bit more prepared.”

Unless she makes good progress in the doubles here, Dart’s next singles commitment will be in a tournament next week in Tasmania, where the total prize money for the event will amount to the equivalent of less than £47,000. At least the Briton will travel there with the biggest pay cheque of her career in her back pocket, having earned $Aus75,000 (about £42,200) for her efforts over the last week.