The 21-year-old stunned the world three years ago when she won the title in her third senior tournament, but it has not been a happy hunting ground since.
After a first-round exit in 2022 and missing last year through injury, Sofia Kenin handed out more misery with a 6-1 3-6 6-4 win on the Grandstand court.
Asked how the defeat made her feel, she paused before fighting back the tears to say: “Yeah, I feel down, like I feel sad. This is a tournament I really want to do well in.
“I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season.
“Obviously, the slams are over for this year but it’s not actually that long until Australia comes around again.”
Having played just one tournament since Wimbledon and skipping the Olympics to focus on the US Open, questions remain over the direction of her career.
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