Bernard Tomic’s win streak against David Ferrer was snapped at two matches as the Brisbane International No.8 stopped the home hope’s run on Monday with a 6-3 7-5 win on Pat Rafter Arena.
Ferrer gets another Aussie challenge in round two, however, when he takes on wildcard entrant Jordan Thompson, who won the lone men’s match on Sunday.
Tomic had won both of the pair’s most recent meetings, which came in 2015, before Ferrer improved his head-to-head record against the Australian to 4-2.
The Gold Coaster traditionally performs well at his home tournament but struggled badly on serve and could not get his forehand working against the far more consistent Ferrer.
Tomic praised the class and consistency of Ferrer, 34, but also blamed his first-serve inaccuracy and a heavy training load for his woes.
The 24-year-old looked lethargic and admitted he “felt flat” after working extremely hard on his fitness in the off-season but denied he was carrying any injuries.
“That’s what cost me, I served terrible,” he said. “I was sort of expecting it. He’s a guy who has made his career based on being a machine and getting every ball back and he’s one of the top players in the world in the past six or seven years.
“It was a match that was always going to be tough and he was just playing more solid than I was.”
Tomic denied it was a dent to his confidence heading towards the Australian Open, however his ranking of No.26 will take a hit after failing to defend points achieved last year with a run to the semifinals.
Tomic lost his opening two service games against Ferrer, the former world No.3, and could only blame himself for producing a sixth double fault to lose the first set in 36 minutes.
He appeared to be troubled by a twinge early as he over-extended for a winning sliced backhand but managed to go shot for shot with Ferrer in the second set.
Games went on serve but Tomic was made to work harder for each before falling short of taking the set into a tiebreak.
Tomic saved two match points but again was let down by his serve with his eighth double fault, allowing world No.21 to advance to the second round.