Bernard Tomic's attempt to return to the Grand Slam circuit saw him sent off the court in an embarrassing straight sets defeat at Melbourne's Kia Arena on Tuesday.
The former world number 17 needed to win three consecutive sudden-death matches to qualify for the Australian Open, but fell at the first hurdle, losing 6-3, 6-1 to Slovakian Jozef Kovalik, ranked 128th in the world. .
Tomic's tough loss comes after he also suffered a horror defeat when he played in his first tournament final in six years, losing 6-0, 6-1 in just 39 minutes to American Learner Tien at the Fairfield Challenger in San Francisco last October.
That loss set a world record for fastest loss in an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Challenger Event.
Tomic, currently ranked 214th in the world, last played in his home Grand Slam in 2021 and has never made it past the fourth round in his 11 appearances at the tournament.
Last year, Tomic won $101,170 playing in Challenger and Future events in places like Wichita, Little Rock and Calabasas.
Tomic, once ranked 17th in the world, crashed in embarrassing fashion in the Australian Open qualifiers on Tuesday.
The polarizing Australian was eliminated from the court in just 61 minutes when he lost in straight sets to Slovakian Jozef Kovalik.
The news was no better for Cruz Hewitt (pictured), who also lost in straight sets, but unlike Tomic, the 16-year-old will have many more opportunities to play in the Grand Slam at home.
The 32-year-old would have more than doubled that figure in a week if he had qualified for the Open to secure a minimum payday of $132,000 even for losing in the first round.
Cruz Hewitt's hopes of reaching the Australian Open main draw suffered a blow on Tuesday at Melbourne Park after the 16-year-old prodigy was defeated by former world number 16 Nikoloz Basilashvili in straight sets.
It was a momentous day for the Hewitt family, with Cruz taking to Court 3 at Melbourne Park, almost 30 years after his father qualified for his first Australian Open.
It came as attention this week was diverted from the star's long-awaited Australian Open qualifying debut after Nick Kyrgios published a social media post that appeared to criticize Hewitt's decision to share a practice shot with Jannik Sinner.
The Italian has drawn the ire of Kyrgios in recent months after he failed two tests for a banned substance but avoided a suspension, but the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will appeal the decision next year.
Hewitt took to Instagram to share photos of Sinner and himself preparing for this week's tournament.
But Kyrgios was quick to respond to the snaps, writing: “I love you Cruz but this is crazy.” He later added: “Cooked post” before appearing to downplay the incident by claiming his comments were a joke between two friends.
Hewitt gave his fans plenty of reason to hope that he will one day take on the sport's biggest stars in Melbourne despite his loss on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Hewitt dispelled any doubts about his abilities or claims of favoritism, despite suffering a straight-set loss. Some have questioned whether last year's Newcombe medalist had been gifted a qualifying spot because of his father's stature in the sport.
He had previously addressed those accusations of favoritism by stating, “It is what it is, but I don't really care.” “It just drives me to be better.”
And Hewitt seemingly put many of those claims to rest, showing off his precision, powerful serve and tennis intelligence at times during the match to ask questions of an opponent who has far more experience playing at the highest level than he does.
In front of a packed stadium of home fans, who did not stop cheering the young star on throughout the match, Hewitt, who is ranked 1263 on the ATP Tour, impressed as he battled hard against the former world number 16.
Struggling to fend off the Georgian's attack, with his 32-year-old opponent serving to love several times in the first set, Hewitt stunned fans with his first serve of the match, launching a monstrous smash into the far corner of the court. box for an ace.
The Georgian is looking to qualify for his ninth main draw berth this week and made a great start to his Australian Open qualifying campaign, taking a 5-0 lead in the first set against Hewitt.
But Hewitt was not defeated, fighting back late in the first set, forcing an error from Basilashvili with a perfectly weighted shot to the baseline to get a game back.
In the photo, Lleyton Hewitt (left) watches his son, almost 30 years after he qualified for his first Australian Open.
Even with the crowd behind him chanting 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi', the first set was too far out of Hewitt's reach at this point, but he was in high spirits having taken a game from his opponent. Hewitt bounced back in the second set, earning a huge break point at 2-1, beating her 32-year-old opponent with a brilliantly timed backhand.
Unfortunately for the young Australian, he was unable to take advantage of the opportunity to gain a foothold and was unable to hold serve before being defeated 3-2.
While down, he certainly wouldn't give up, with Hewitt again forcing Basilashvili to go deeper, saving two break points at 4-2.
The Georgian struggled to break Hewitt in the resulting exchange, but stepped on the accelerator by serving to love, before clinching the victory and a spot in the second qualifying round with a 6-4 victory.
For Hewitt, it will be back to the drawing board, but there will be plenty of positives to take from this match.
Facing an experienced ATP Tour player, the youngster certainly held his own and impressed the patrons on Court 3 by moving Basilashvili around the court with some excellent shots.