• Watson, Robson, Keothavong, Baltacha and Ward all fall
• Five British slam hopes muster 20 games in total
• Watch video highlights from the Australian Open
Promise curdled into misery for British tennis on the first day of the 2012 Australian Open, when five of the six players to make it into the draw — the best representation in an overseas grand slam tournament in 20 years — were re-examining airline schedules before the evening news had started.
Heather Watson was the first player out of the tournament, in only 67 minutes, followed by James Ward in straight sets, Laura Robson in 69 minutes, Elena Baltacha in an hour and a half and Anne Keothavong, who had to retire, weakened by food poisoning, after losing the first set 6-0 in 21 minutes.
They mustered 20 games between them and not a single set, but Robson protested afterwards: "It just so happened that we all played on the same day. If some of the girls played tomorrow, you would not be asking [why it happened]. Everyone obviously tried their best. Heather played [Victoria] Azarenka, the No3 seed who's on great form, so that was a tough draw for her. Anne had food poisoning. I'm not trying to make excuses for all of us but I just think that it's not a disaster."
Nevertheless Andy Murray, who plays the American teenager Ryan Harrison on Tuesday , is left by himself in a major tournament yet again.
No one among Monday's losing hopefuls (to use Harrison's term for players who hope rather than believe they're going to win in big tournaments) reflected the despair more completely than Ward.
He played well in patches before the Slovenian Blaz Kavcic, ranked 103 in the world, beat him 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes. And, the straight-talking Ward, the son of a London cab driver who still lives near Euston station, where he grew up, was in no mood for formula post-mortems.
Asked to describe his performance, he replied: "It would take too long. Why don't you just ask me a question?" It went downhill thereafter. Ward said the wind was tricky, "but it was the same for both of us", and he might have come in behind his serve more in the conditions rather than trying to hit through Kavcic's sound running defence along the baseline.
He now turns his attention to the Davis Cup, where Great Britain at least have been winning as a team.
Watson, who lost to the world No3 Azarenka in front of a small gathering in the main Rod Laver Arena in the opening match, was more upbeat. She did not use a recently sprained ankle as an excuse but admitted her first appearance on the court was tough to handle, especially with wind swirling down on to her toss-up for the serve.
"I don't mind having a first round like that," the Guernsey player said. "If I want to be the best, I've got to beat everyone and I've gained experience from this. I wasn't really there today, but there's always next time – I'm going to be playing a lot more tournaments."
Unlike Ward, whose world ranking of 161 would need a dramatic improvement for him to qualify for the London Olympics, she is within sight of that target, ranked 105 and needing to get down to 70 by 11 June. "The Olympics is my No1 target," she said. "They come around every four years and how often do you get them in your own country? I'm focusing on just playing well. Then the points and the ranking will come."
Azarenka, coming off a win in Sydney and quite superb here, was generous in victory. "She maybe was a little bit overwhelmed playing on centre court," the Belarusian said. "But she's still young. I really put a lot of pressure on her. I don't think she managed that well today, but she has great skills. She's very good mover. She has a good serve."
Robson, on crutches only a month ago, was never really in it against Jelena Jankovic, who gave up only two games in a brutally quick match on Margaret Court Arena.
On the doomed Court 11, where Ward had already perished, Baltacha, perhaps Britain's best hope of surviving, battled with her customary courage but could not get the breaks against Stéphanie Foretz Gacon of France, who won 6-2, 6-4.
One of the game's most genuine players, Baltacha broke down in tears later, frustrated by an inexplicable loss of form after a sound preparation in the off-season. She got a few bad calls but refused to complain. "That's tennis, you've got to accept it," she said. "It's a tough job."
Of the group misery, she said: "Everyone's disappointed. But it's the third week of the year. That's how I'm seeing it. I've had such a great off-season. You've just got to keep going."
Then it was Keothavong's turn for the guillotine. At least her ordeal against the German Mona Barthel was mercifully quick.
All of this was in marked contrast to the match of the day by Australia's rising teenage talent, Bernard Tomic, who held the Rod Laver Arena spellbound over four hours and 11 minutes against the No22 seed Fernando Verdasco, to come from two sets down and win a five-setter that might be pivotal in his career.
Tomic, who looked down and out and exhausted after an hour and a half, recovered from wasting key break points in the second set to win 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.